


Our Future is in the Stars

by SpencnerTibbsLuvr (KliqzAngel)



Series: Bangs and RBB Fics [5]
Category: Criminal Minds, NCIS, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Case Fic Elements, Character Bashing, Established Relationship, M/M, McGee pulls his head out, Mild Angst, Not Canon Compliant, Offscreen Character Death of Popular Character, Rekindled Relationship, Spencer and Derek leave the BAU, Tony leaves NCIS, canon character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 13:35:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20408596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KliqzAngel/pseuds/SpencnerTibbsLuvr
Summary: When Tony is ordered to follow Germany, he finds that he does have a line that he won't step across. In the aftermath, he finds himself with a Probie tag-along he hadn't expected, a new job that is literally out of this world, and a murder of someone close to the heart of the man he loves. Spencer Reid watched his girlfriend be murdered before his eyes. Before he even had a chance to process what happened, he finds the Section Chief tearing apart his team. After making his thoughts known, Spencer quits, and after taking time to heal finds himself with a dream job and a rekindled romance that just may be everything he's been waiting for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Greeneyesblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greeneyesblue/gifts).

> This story was written for the 2019 Every Fandom Reverse Bang. My artist was greeneyesblue who made the fabulous piece of art above. The first concept that I got didn't work, but it did lead to the final version. I love the art that inspired this story.
> 
> Jackson Grimes is an OMC created by rivermoon1970 and is being used with her permission. I have tweaked canon in all three fandoms in this story to fit my plot. The popular character death is not someone listed above, but is a popular Stargate SG1 fandom character. The canon character death is NCIS canon.

Banner by greeneyesblue

#  Prologue

  
  


"I feel like Ziva joining the MCRT is where everything went wrong for NCIS. I'm not willing to compound that mistake by going with her to Germany when we all know she has no plans to bring him back alive. I’m not repeating the Rivkin debacle."

Ziva sneered at him from her spot next to Gibbs, but Tony, for the most part, ignored her. After Gibbs ordered him to go with her, Tony quickly refused, which led to a meeting with Gibbs, Ziva, and himself in Vance’s office. None of the other three were happy with him, but Tony didn’t care. He wasn’t going, and not just because Jack would kill him if he even thought about it.

“I don’t recall it being a request, Special Agent DiNozzo,” Vance growled from his seat behind his desk. Tony just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “The last time I checked, you are not the one who determines what operations you are assigned to. I am ordering you to go with Ziva to apprehend Bodnar.”

“And when she disobeys the order to bring him back to the US and simply kills him?” Tony asked, wishing that Gibbs would speak up and point out how insane this all was. After the last several years of being let down by his boss and one-time friend, Tony knew better than to expect that though. “Who is being held responsible when she just simply kills him?”

“The last time I checked you were my SFA, DiNozzo,” Gibbs growled, most likely upset that he couldn’t head slap him. Tony had deliberately chosen to stand away from Gibbs and Ziva for that very reason, though. “He doesn’t come back alive and that will be on you. Ziva will do what she’s told. Unlike you, she knows how to obey orders.”

Tony gaped at his boss not believing those words were actually coming out of his mouth. “Since when did Ziva learn how to obey orders that came from someone other than dear ol’ daddy? Even that was questionable, and now that he’s dead there’s no chance that she’s following anyone’s orders but her own. I repeat I am not going to Germany. I am sorry Eli is dead, but frankly, it’s his own fault. I get that you three are just ignoring the fact that he killed that man, but I’m not doing it. Had Ziva done what she was supposed to do, Eli would be in a cell right now, and Jackie would be alive.”

“I will kill you for speaking that way of my father!” Ziva shouted and tried to lunge at him but was caught by Gibbs just in time to stop her. 

“I suggest that you keep my wife’s name out of your mouth, Special Agent DiNozzo,” Vance growled standing up and slapping his hands on the desk. “I am ordering you to go with Ziva to apprehend Bodnar, and if something happens to him, you’ll find yourself in a jail cell. Am I clear?”

“Oh, your position is crystal clear,” Tony shot back, and after tried to mentally pull himself back from the edge. It was obvious at that point that there was no way he was changing their minds. The most that he could hope for was to get out of the building and to Jack. He knew that his partner would call Morrow if he asked him to. While he wanted to go home and have a nice quiet evening with his partner bitching about his co-workers, Tony had a feeling that they’d be having company.

“For the record, I had a great deal of respect for your wife, Director,” Tony went on as he moved towards the door making it clear he was done with the conversation. “She was an incredibly classy lady, and something important, something that I think the world needed was lost that night. You and your children have been in my thoughts since I heard the news. No matter what happens from here, I regret that we had to lose her for it to happen.”

“What’s going to happen is that you’re going to be on the next flight I can find to Germany,” Vance growled, and Tony just tilted his head to one side without responding.

“Don’t go pulling any funny shit either, DiNozzo,” Gibbs ordered, as Tony opened the door, and took a moment to study the man he’d at one time had a great deal of respect for. 

“You know me, Boss,” Tony said before walking out, and as he was passing by the secretary’s desk, he heard Gibbs speak and paused.

“I think we’re going to have a problem,” Gibbs warned, and Tony heard Ziva scoff.

“He is a backless goat,” she sneered, “he will do as you order and if he does not, he will pay. Nothing will get in my way.”

When Tony didn’t immediately hear a response, he headed off not wanting to get caught. Stopping briefly at his desk, Tony picked up a few items that he didn’t want to lose. If he had his way, this would be the last time that he was in the bullpen as an employee of NCIS. 

“Tony? What’s going on?” McGee asked, and Tony’s head jerked up. He hadn’t been aware the other man was still in the building and had apparently been too far into his head to hear him walk up.

“Tell me, McGee, how far are you willing to go to sit at the cool kid’s table?” Tony asked zipping his bag closed and then after grabbing his duffle of spare clothes out of a filing cabinet drawer, stepped close enough to McGee so they could talk quietly without having to risk being overheard. “How many rules and laws are you willing to break to be included or to get that Director’s chair that you have your eye on? How many of your morals are you willing to set aside to climb the ladder?”

“I don’t,” Tim started, but he trailed off and didn’t finish.

Tony had no clue why he was taking this chance. He wasn’t sure he could truly trust McGee, but damnit the man was his Probie and there was something that made Tony sick to his stomach at the thought of not giving it one last chance. “Right now, McGee. Right this very second you make a choice. Them or me? You stay here and take their side and end up in Germany where Ziva will kill Bodnar, or you go with me. I will be straight up that I don’t know how much I can trust you. I have no clue where your head is at, but you choose right now. Them or me.”

“I,” Tim started and stopped. Tony was about to walk away, but Tim quickly grabbed his arm. When Tony looked back at McGee, there was a different glimmer in his eyes. “I called my girlfriend while you guys were up in Vance’s office. She works for the Department of Defense, and I haven’t told you guys about her yet because I think I really like her. She told me she’d kick my ass all over DC if I went to Germany. Delilah hates Ziva and practically spews venom anytime we talk about her. When Delilah found out what I was doing for her, she really let me have it. I… I don’t know what’s happening, but I choose you. I think… I think that I need to choose you, or I’ll lose her, and that’s something I just can’t risk.”

Tony took a few seconds to study Tim before nodding. “You stay on my six when we leave here. You turn your phone off so that it can’t be tracked. You keep your fucking mouth shut about what you’re going to hear with everyone but Delilah. That goes triple for Abby. I’m taking a chance here, Tim. If you stab me in the back, I will fucking burn your entire world.”

Tim nodded quickly, and Tony turned to continue his path to the stairs. He wasn’t taking the elevator because he wanted out of the building as quickly as possible. It was possible that no one in the Director’s office figured out that he wasn’t changing his mind, but he doubted it. Just as he headed into the stairwell, Tony looked up to the walkway one last time and wasn’t surprised to see Gibbs there watching him. The expression on his face was unreadable, and for once, Tony wasn’t going to take the time to figure it out. At least, not there.

Slamming the stairwell doorway open, Tony ran down the stairs, hoping McGee could keep up. They didn’t have time to waste. The clock was ticking, and Tony wasn’t sure that it was on their side.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

  
  


Three months prior in Quantico, Va, Spencer Reid was sitting in the team’s conference room listening to Section Chief Erin Strauss trying to justify her splitting up of the BAU team. Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner was on a completely bogus suspension, at least as far as Spencer was concerned, after the events that led to Maeve’s death. Strauss had been trying to justify her suspension of Hotch and convince them how splitting up the team was better for everyone. 

“And when Unit Chief Hotchner returns from his suspension we will assign him to a new unit. There’s an opening in Los Angeles that I feel he will be much better suited for. SSA Morgan, you will be leading the new BAU team that I will personally be forming. Congratulations on your promotion.”

“Not a chance in hell,” Derek drawled, and Spencer turned his head to study his best friend. “Ma’am,” Derek added almost snidely, and Spencer didn’t even try to contain his snort of amusement. At this point Strauss deserved none of his respect, and he wasn’t going to even pretend that she did. Every day was a struggle, and he hadn’t even bothered to pretend he wanted to be there. All Spencer could think of was that Maeve was dead, and he felt like he was drowning in his guilt.

“Excuse me?” Strauss snapped, immediately dropping her pleasant tone as it took on a much sharper edge. “I suggest you watch your tone with me, SSA Morgan, or you’ll find yourself suspended alongside your Unit Chief rather than promoted. Now, I understand that these changes…”

“With all due respect ma’am, you can take your promotion and shove it,” Derek shot back interrupting her, and this time it was Alex and JJ who let loose their sounds of amusement. “If you think that there’s a chance on God’s green earth that I’m taking some kind of blood promotion, benefiting from a bullshit suspension after Maeve’s death, you’re insane.”

“Unit Chief Hotchner failed to follow protocol and turn the case over to the local authorities when it was determined Ms. Donovan’s circumstances,” she tried again, but once more Derek cut her off. For once, Spencer didn’t even try to save his friend from his temper, because this time Spencer wholeheartedly agreed with him. Taking out his phone, Spencer sent a text message quickly, as he could already see where this whole debacle was going.

“I don’t give a hairy rat’s ass what you suggest,” Derek said standing, and when Garcia let out a distressed squeak, Derek flashed her a comforting smile before continuing. 

“If you think that there’s any chance, I am ever working underneath you again you have lost your ever-loving mind. You have got to be the ineptest and most emotionally compromised Section Chief I’ve had the misfortune of working under since I started working with the FBI. Your hatred for Hotch is known by every person in this building, and the fact that you’re using Spencer’s grief and Hotch’s guilt to tear up this team is disgusting. 

“I’m not taking your promotion. I’m also not standing around here while you demolish Hotch’s team when he isn’t here to defend himself. I have other options, even if it means leaving the FBI completely. You’ve been trying to take Hotch down a peg or two for years but couldn’t do it because frankly everyone including your own bosses like and respect him more than they do you.”

Spencer thought Strauss was going to have a stroke right there at the conference room table. He couldn’t help but think that maybe it would be best for everyone if she did. Heavens knows that Derek wasn’t the only one done with her after this. The timing of her attack was the last thing that Spencer needed to deal with at the moment and losing the team on top of Maeve made him want to just crawl into a hole and not ever come out. Hearing Derek continue his rant pulled Reid out of his head. 

“I’ve seen a lot of sick people during my time on this team, but you may just be one of the worst. We all know that on top of his guilt, Aaron’s struggling with the similarities between Maeve’s death and how Haley died. Like a freaking vulture, you’ve seen that Hotch was down and swooped in to scavenge the carcass. Spencer lost the woman that he was in love with to a woman who had made Maeve’s life hell. Now, you’re going to take away the only family structure that either Aaron or Spencer have left? I always knew you were a bitch, but I didn’t know that you were one of those slimy, stab people in the back types.”

Shoving his chair back, Derek stalked toward the door, and Spencer watched quickly going over his plan of action one last time to ensure that it was the way he wanted to go. Then, deciding it was, he turned his attention to the rest of the room. 

Rossi would be fine, and from the expression on his face, the little love affair that had been brewing between himself and Strauss was going to come to a fiery end. Garcia had another boss besides Hotch who adored her and would fight to the death for her. While mostly she just dealt with the BAU Unit Chief, she did have someone else that she reported to. Williams was a good man and there was no way that he’d let Strauss screw Garcia over.

He felt a pang of regret at leaving JJ behind. After Derek, she was his next best friend, but the higher ups loved her, and like Garcia, he knew she’d land on her feet. Besides that, Rossi would look after her, and there was a chance that she’d get to stay right where she was at. JJ was relatively unthreatening to someone like Strauss. 

Alex was a 50/50 situation. With the way things with her husband were going, there was a good chance that she would also leave the FBI altogether. Either way, she didn’t need his protection. There was very little chance that Strauss would mess with her again. Their previous entanglement was already too well known. 

Spencer hated the idea that Derek was giving up his job because it felt like it was his fault. Reid knew his best friend well enough though to be aware that there would be no talking Morgan down. Maybe once Spencer was back on his feet, there would be a place for his friend wherever he ended up.

Having made up his mind, Spencer turned his attention back to Strauss who was bitching about something. Whatever it was had pissed Alex off enough that she was arguing back with her. From the slight slur in the Section Chief’s voice, it was easy to tell that she’d started nipping early in the day, again. Spencer was sure that her drinking problem was a contributing factor to whatever was going on. While he sympathized though, she had crossed a line with him that couldn’t be backed away from. So, allowing himself to feel his own anger, finally, Spencer stood and looped the strap of his bag over his head in preparation to leave.

“I did not excuse you, Special Agent Reid,” Strauss snapped, and Spencer just snorted.

“Frankly, Scarlet, I don’t give a damn,” he shot back as his anger surged through his blood like fire. Hearing the responding sounds of surprise from the rest of the room, he almost eye rolled at them, but was too busy letting himself be angry.

It always amused Spencer how even the people in his day to day life didn’t understand him. While it was true that Spencer sucked at interpreting social queues, didn’t always get pop references, and could care less about gossip therefore leaving him often in the dark about what was going on with the people around him, he wasn’t an emotionless robot. He had emotions. He wasn’t some unfeeling sociopath. He just more often than not locked his feelings away because he knew from firsthand experience how distracting they could be. 

Being born to a mother who suffered from schizophrenia, he’d learned two things very early on in life. The first thing being how to read someone. His early day to day survival, even before his father deserted them, depended on him being able to read how his mother was feeling from one moment to the next. The second was that his own emotions could either get him comforted or put him in terrible danger, and one never knew which it would be because it all depended on what was going on in his mother’s head.

Because of that, he’d learned to lockdown his own emotions and feelings so that they couldn’t distract him from whatever he was trying to accomplish at that moment or disrupt whatever situation that he was in at that time. The result was that people often misunderstood his lack of reaction and just assumed that he only felt things in the most extreme of times, except Hotch and sometimes Derek. His mentor and his friend were the two people best at seeing what he was trying to hide from the world, which was why he held them in such high regard. It was also why he was about to scorch the FBI landscape for one and take the other with him to his next destination in his life’s journey.

“I have had just about enough,” Strauss snapped slamming her hands down on the table, and Spencer just let his lips spread into a smirk that drew another surprised meep from Garcia. 

“You’re slurring, ma’am,” Spencer interrupted snidely and was pleased to see the way the woman paled and sat back down heavily in her chair. 

“You can’t fool another addict, Section Chief Strauss,” he continued as he stepped away from the table and moved toward the doorway. Before walking through it though for what might be the last time, Spencer stopped and looked back at her. 

“You know, one of the things that Jason Gideon taught me while he was here that I have held onto was a lesson on making enemies. He told me that I should be careful what enemies I made and where I made them because sometimes the unsubs that we locked up were much less dangerous than the enemies I could make in my professional life. Therefore, before I burned a bridge, I should make sure that it was what I absolutely wanted to do. 

“Jason may have hated playing politics, and more often than not ignored the whole thing leaving that game to people like Rossi, it didn’t mean that he was unaware of them or incapable of playing them. In this moment, I know a few things with absolute certainty. I know that you are an alcoholic who has made her last and worst misstep allowing your drunken paranoia to harm a man I think of as family while the woman I loved is dead and Hotch is fighting the memories of his wife’s murder. I know that I am the smartest person that you will ever meet, because most people smarter than me work for organizations you will never get the security clearance to even dream about let alone know that they exist.

“I know that not even your budding relationship with Rossi and the power and influence he holds will save you from this bullshit. I know that last one because of the final thing that I am absolutely confident of. I know that I hold cards of influence with someone who, without any doubt in my mind, will believe everything that I am about to go and tell him. So, know this. I have not even a single fear or concern over the bridge that I am about to burn between you and me. And, not only am I gonna burn it, I’m gonna torch that bitch and everything around it.”

“Holy shit,” JJ breathed loud enough that he could hear her in the otherwise silent room. “Go Spencer!”

Flashing her a sad smile, Spencer quickly looked back to Strauss, “I’d tell you to have a good day, but I know for a fact that it’s about to be the worst day of your life. I’m not even a little bit sorry about that.” Then, after looking around the room and offering smiles to his friends, and receiving nods of understanding from all, including Rossi, which he appreciated, Spencer walked out of the BAU conference room and onto whatever journey life was bringing his way. He only hoped that it would finally be the place where he could stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to angst over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!


	2. Chapter 2

#  Chapter One

When Tony finally pulled to a stop in the driveway at Jack’s house, he placed the car in park and then took a second to just breathe in an effort to try to calm his mind. He’d known for a while that things at NCIS were getting bad. He also knew that Jack had been biting his tongue when it came to issues that Tony had been avoiding having to address. It wasn’t something that came naturally to his partner, but they had learned that it was necessary given the classified nature of both their jobs. 

Ignoring the sudden darkening behind him, as Tony assumed it came from McGee turning off his car, he studied the vehicles already in the driveway with a frown. He knew the SUVs, and their owners. He’d even expected one of them to arrive at some point that evening, given that he’d asked Jack to contact the man and request that he come over asap. 

What he hadn’t expected though was to see it there before he got home. Especially considering Tony knew the Navy Yard was much closer to Jack’s house than Homeland. The other though, he had no clue why it was there. After a moment to think about it, Tony decided that it was a happy coincidence, and wondered if the universe was maybe going to start being nicer to him.

Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Tony turned his head to see McGee lurking on the lawn looking uncertain and out of his depths. After studying the younger man for a moment, Tony pulled out the spare phone he kept in his glovebox and shot off a text to one of the few phone numbers he’d stored there. 

It wasn’t one he’d texted from the device before, so he had to go through a few questions to confirm his identity before getting to the point of the conversation. Once he received a very satisfying assurance that his question would be seriously considered and an answer given within a couple days, Tony finally shut off his own car and climbed out. It was time to face whatever was laying inside the home.

“Tony, where are we?” McGee questioned, and Tony noted his eyes roaming around the yard. “Whose house is this?”

“You’ll find out soon enough, McCurious,” Tony replied as he headed up the walk and inside, ignoring Tim’s squawk of protest that he couldn’t just walk into someone’s home. Leaving the door open, so McGee could enter once he worked up the balls to do so, Tony set about taking off his shoes and emptying his pockets into the dish in the foyer designated for such things. It felt weird not to have a weapon to store. 

He left his NCIS issued weapon behind along with his badge and credentials. He’d have to make time to go get himself another weapon that he could carry every day. Of course, he had a second gun that was not NCIS issued, but it wasn’t necessarily one that he wanted to carry every day. It didn’t take much to convince himself that he needed a better every day gun. It wasn’t even a question that he would need one. Tony had been around the block more than once, and knew there was no way that Ziva wouldn’t be coming after him for interfering with her plans.

“Honey, I’m home!” Tony called just as Tim finally made his way inside. “Take off your shoes, McGee. We don’t do shoes inside the house.”

“We?” McGee questioned and Tony looked back to see the younger man still standing in the doorway with the door open. 

“For fuck sake, shut the door!” Tony shot back with an eyeroll. “If you fill the damn house up with bugs, I’m gonna be pissed. The dogs hate bugs.”

“Tony what the hell is going on?” Tim asked more sharply than his previous questions, and Tony shot him a scowl just as he heard footsteps coming his way along with the clicking sound that told him the fur babies had heard him as well. The dogs of course got to him first, and Tony knelt to greet the enthusiastic pups laughing happily at their enthusiastic tail wagging and licks of hello.

“It’s about time you got here,” a new voice called out and Tony looked up from the dogs to smile at the man who held his heart. Standing quickly, Tony felt a sense of calm fall over him that he knew came from the sight of Jack. It may be a childish thought, but somehow the world felt safer when he knew his partner was there.

“Tom and George were already here. We had some work things to discuss. I hope you don’t mind them staying for dinner. I thought we could grill out. I have steaks and chops marinating, and Stella made us some salads and such for side dishes before she left. Looks like you have an unexpected visitor of your own.”

Stella was their housekeeper and sometimes cook. While Tony loved cooking, he didn’t always have time. Plus, when he wasn’t home Jack would live off of cereal and microwave dinners if not for her. Then there was the fact that neither one of them wanted to spend all of their time cleaning on their rare free time, so a housekeeper / occasional cook was the best compromise. It also helped to have someone around to tend to the dogs when they both were tied up with work.

When Jack stopped in front of him, Tony pushed McGee and the rest of his crappy day out of his mind for a moment, as he took a moment to greet the man that he was sharing his life with. After giving the dogs a quick order to sit, remembering Tim’s fear of dogs, Tony stepped closer to Jack. He wasn’t sure how active Tim’s phobia still was after McGee’s brief ownership of Jethro, but he wasn’t a big enough jerk to not be cautious until he could find out. If needed, he could send the dogs out to the back yard to run around while McGee was there.

“Hey, Jack,” Tony offered in greeting before stealing a kiss. It seemed as if Jack was a little off, but he chalked it up to work. Tony hated that his partner couldn’t confide in him the way he needed; the way partners should be able to confide in each other. So, he let Jack hold on if he needed to, and turned his head to inhale Jack’s scent before speaking softly. “I’m really glad you’re here. I’m pretty confident that I win the who had a crappier day game. I haven’t been fired yet, but chances are good I will be suspended before we even wake up in the morning. I missed you.”

Jack had been away dealing with something out of town on one of his trips that Tony wasn’t allowed to know what the destination was or why he was going there. “I’m glad to be home. Missed you too. I hate it when you have the worse day. Am I going to have to storm NCIS and kick someone’s ass? If it means that you’ll finally accept Tom’s offer, I might not be as upset as I should be, fair warning.”

Tony let out a soft chuckle, and accepted another kiss, this one deeper than the prior one, before he pulled back and performed the introductions. “Tim McGee meet my partner in life and everything else important to me, Lt. General Jonathan J. O’Neill. Call him Jack. The German Shepard is my dog Magnum. The husky is Jack’s dog Homer. Jack, meet Tim McGee. He has chosen to side with Team DiNozzo over Team NCIS. So, try and be nice.”

“And how do we know he isn’t a spy?” Jack inquired narrowing his eyes at McGee who fidgeted nervously.

“Well, it was a spur of the moment invitation for one,” Tony admitted with a smile as he bumped his shoulder against Jack’s when the older man stepped forward to stand next to him. 

“Secondly, because I know for a fact that his girlfriend, who is hands down the better half in that pairing, will neuter him if he isn’t on the up and up. She told me so herself. Are you still afraid of dogs, Tim? I know you used to be afraid of them, but I wasn’t sure how active it was after your brief ownership of Jethro. We can send the boys out into the back yard, if needed.”

“You texted Delilah!” McGee screeched, and Tony offered a smile that was miles away from friendly. “How do you even know about her? You know what, nevermind. Of course, you know. You’re worse than Gibbs that way.”

“I did McUntrustworthy,” Tony verified as he let himself lean against Jack for a moment. “I had something I needed to know, and of course I know about Delilah. Everyone I talked to says you’re totally dating outside of your class, by the way. Anywho, I had an offer of possible future employment if you will that I needed her to start considering asap. She volunteered on her own the snip-snip promise. So, be a good boy or I’ll have to start calling you McEunuch. Jack, let’s take this into the study. I assume that’s where Tom and George are? I’m not sure how much time we have to spare. Tim? The dogs?”

“No, I’ll,” Tim started, and Tony could see him straighten his back then kneel down to hold out a hand to be sniffed. Giving a silent command, Tony watched the two dogs to sniff McGee then give happy licks of greetings before wandering away. When the younger man stood and gave a shrug, Tony just lifted an eyebrow in silent question.

“They still aren’t my favorite things, but I’m not as afraid anymore,” Tim explained running a hand over the back of his hair. “After I found a new home for Jethro, I decided to see someone about it. I’m sorry if I’m being a jerk. I just… I’m sorry. Homer is an interesting name. Do you like Ancient Greek literature, Jack?”

“Nope, the Simpsons,” Jack replied, and Tony couldn’t help but snicker at Tim’s facial expression guessing he was most likely looking for a response that wouldn’t be completely insulting.

Deciding to step in and save his Probie from himself, Tony clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention. Knowing he needed to address McGee’s almost confession of being uncomfortable and off foot, he started there. He was well aware of Tim’s strengths and weaknesses. 

Surprises were definitely not something McGee handled well. “I'm aware you don’t like surprises, McGee. Just don’t be a jerk intentionally, and we’ll give you some leeway. OK then, Magnum, Homer, come! Jack let’s get this show on the road. Time that we don’t have is wasting away.”

Fortunately, Jack understood time sensitivity, and with only one last glare at Tim, turned and led the way back to the room he’d come from. Tony waived McGee ahead of him not wanting to give the younger man the chance to “accidentally” get lost and start snooping. 

Once they reached the study, and another round of greetings was offered, the five men sat down. Tim obviously knew Tom Morrow but had never met the new Secretary of Defense to his knowledge. He knew that Admiral John McGee had been up for the position before his cancer was discovered. Tony hoped that there wasn’t going to be any issues there. 

Tony knew that McGee and his father hadn’t been close in the past. He also knew though that since Adm. McGee revealed his health problems the two had been working on their relationships. Despite his own horrible relationship with Senior, or maybe because of it, Tony didn’t begrudge his Probie the chance at all. In fact, he hoped that the two men were able to find peace between them before the older man died.

After the introductions were done, and everyone had settled again, with the dogs laying down near Tony and Jack, Tony gave Morrow, Hammond, and Jack a rundown on what was going on at NCIS. Tony was well past the point where he was worried about what Jack was and wasn’t supposed to know about the goings on at NCIS. He figured that if SecDef didn’t think Jack should know he’d stop him. Plus, with what he knew would be coming, Tony needed his partner’s sharp mind to get them all out of his mess Ziva was dragging the agency into.

“Jesus, what damned kind of mess has Hayes gotten me into?” Hammond grumbled and Morrow just snorted before taking a sip of his whiskey. Lt. Gen. George Hammond was a recent appointment, after the previous SecDef was forced to step down due to health issues. Jack told Tony one night as they were talking in bed that it might be the first time ever in DC that health issues wasn’t code for something else. 

While Tony didn’t know Hammond anywhere close to as well as Jack did, he knew how much his partner respected the man, and therefore was confident that the SecDef’s presence was just another sign the universe had decided to smile down upon him favorably for once. 

He briefly kicked himself mentally for not thinking about having Jack call Hammond when he’d asked him to contact Morrow. To be fair though, Tony knew Tom much better, and had no doubts that he could trust the older man to have his back in this. The Lt. General’s presence was just the cherry on top of the crap sundae he was being forced to consume.

A part of him wished that there had been time to fill Jack in first. He ached to know what his partner’s thoughts were without the filter that would be there with the mixed company present. 

Maybe if it had just been Hammond and Morrow, he would have stood a chance at getting Jack’s uncensored thoughts right off. However, he knew that despite the clueless routine that the older man liked to pull, he knew how to play the game. Therefore, he would never give his uncensored opinion with someone present that Jack didn’t know he could trust implicitly. So, Tony would have to wait till later that evening after everyone had left to find out everything the other man was thinking.

“Is there any chance that this woman will follow orders and leave Ilan Bodnar alive?” Hammond asked, and while Jack’s snort of disbelief was probably enough to tell the SecDef what he was thinking. Tony thought actual words were probably needed.

“Not a chance, in my opinion, sir,” Tony offered, and Hammond gave a nod sitting quietly for a moment or two before speaking.

“Call me George when we’re here in Private, son,” SecDef requested and while his eyes flicked to McGee, Tony noticed the request did not include him. A fact that he both found amusing and hoped that Tim caught. “I know that my area of focus the last decade or so has not been on the Middle East, but I recall the Director of Mossad who was recently killed was Eli David, correct? Are they any relation?”

“Yes, Ziva is his daughter, sir,” Tim rushed to confirm, and if he was disappointed when no offer for him to call the Lt. General by his first name was not offered, the younger man at least hid it well. Something Tony gave him silent kudos for. 

“She worked for Mossad before joining NCIS. In fact, she was a liaison for Mossad with NCIS for several years before joining us as an agent about four years ago. She… Sir, I don’t think Tony will be safe once Ziva realizes that he’s not going to Germany. She’s bragged more times than I can count how easily she can kill. I just…”

When Tim just trailed off and shook his head looking a little lost, Tony had to hold himself back from commenting. This wasn’t the bullpen and he wasn’t the second highest ranking agent in the room. Here, he was just small potatoes. He supposed that it should be comforting that at least Tim was a lower rank than him, but it didn’t. It just made him feel protective and he was too annoyed to be happy at the protectiveness.

“Are you Adm. McGee’s son?” Hammond asked, and when Tim nodded his confirmation, the SecDef continued. “He’s a good man. Tony stated earlier that you assisted Ms. David in helping determine that Bodnar was in Germany. How can we know that we can trust you? Surely you knew that what you were doing was illegal.”

Tony shifted his eyes from Hammond to Tim and back until he felt Jack’s hand squeeze his comfortingly, and Tony let out his breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding. When Magnum sat up and rested his big head on Tony’s knee, he moved a hand to scratch behind the dog’s ear as he looked back to his probie and waited for the answer.

“I messed up, sir,” Tim admitted finally, and Tony felt himself relax slightly at the admission.

“I wanted to help her, and I suppose I was just excited to be included for once. I know it should have occurred to me that what we were doing was wrong, and I guess it did. It was just… Ziva was my friend, or I thought she was, and she was upset. Her reasoning was logical, and I suppose I just didn’t think about the reasons why I shouldn’t until Tony found us and yelled at us. If I was going to defend myself, I suppose I’d lean on the fact that Gibbs has me do stuff all the time that isn’t quite legal. So, I guess I got lax and stopped thinking about stuff like that. I mean, until Tony pointed out how stupid we were and then… Well I guess all I’ve done since is thinking.”

“And do you think that Ms. David will bring back Ilan Bodnar alive?” Hammond pressed and Tim quickly shook his head no.

“There’s no way. If Ziva makes it to Germany, then Bodnar is a dead man. Whether he is guilty, whether he has co-conspirators, whether innocent people will get hurt none of it will matter to her.”

“And why are you here, Special Agent McGee?” Morrow asked speaking for the first time, and Tony flicked his gaze to the older man’s face. Unfortunately, Morrow had always been one of those people that Tony found nearly impossible to read, and this time was no different.

“Because I fucked up, and I want to try and make it right,” Tim confessed quietly. Tony was surprised when Homer got up and moved to sit next to Tim’s chair. Usually the husky was as distrustful as his master, but then he was also a helluva good judge of character. So, maybe it said something. “Tony told me to choose between him and NCIS, and well… I’ve come to realize that I owe him a lot. I owe him more than my actions have shown lately. Ziva messes with my head both figuratively and literally. 

“It isn’t an excuse, I know. I just… it’s what I have. So, Tony told me to choose and I picked Team DiNozzo, sir. It seemed like the right thing to do. Plus, Delilah, my girlfriend, really likes Tony and says that I should listen to him more. I think she probably has her head on straighter than I do right now. So, I’m taking her advice and hoping that Tony is willing to keep teaching me.”

This time when Tony shifted his gaze, it was towards the fire, and concentrated only on how Jack’s weight, as he leaned against Tony, was the one thing holding him together right then.

Not long after McGee’s confession, Tony found himself in the kitchen helping Jack get the steaks ready for the grill as he very much tried not to think about what was going on in Jack’s study. Morrow had politely asked Jack if he would mind letting himself and Hammond speak to Special Agent McGee alone. Tony was really glad that they’d asked Jack’s permission not his own, because Tony was honest to God not sure how he would have answered. Things were too unsettled at the moment, and Tony couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to protect Tim or throw him to the wolves.

“He’ll be fine, Tony,” Jack said quietly from where he was perched at the island. Tony startled slightly, looking up from the steaks he was taking out of the marinade, not having heard his partner come back in from starting up the grill. “I’d ask if you were sure about him, but your bringing him here says it all, I’d say.”

“Are you mad?” Tony asked softly as he took the last steak out and patted it dry before putting it on the platter to go outside. “I probably should have asked if I could bring him here…”

“This is your home too, Tony,” Jack scolded gently, and Tony just nodded without speaking. “Maybe one of the good things to come out of this will be you moving in here for good and we can quit this split life thing.”

Tony tilted his head to one side but let himself smile as he let himself enjoy looking at Jack. “I think that I’d like that. We need to find room for my mom’s piano, but, yeah, I’d like that. You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m pissed as hell, and part of it is at the little computer geek in the other room,” Jack admitted letting his frustration show. “It has nothing to do with you bringing him here though, and everything to do with him letting you down, again.”

“Yeah, I guess I should be used to it by now,” Tony admitted with a soft sigh. “I honestly don’t know what I was thinking, except that I was losing everything else that I’d built at NCIS. I didn’t want it to be a complete waste of time, and Tim… Hell, I don’t know what to think about Tim. A part of me wants to run in there right now and protect him from them, because Morrow and Hammond aren’t just sharks, they’re megalodons. The other part of me wants to watch them devour him or drop him into a deep dark hole. Mostly, I just want it to all be over so I can figure out what comes next.”

“How would you feel if that thing that came next involved all the things that I haven’t been able to tell you over the years?” Jack asked and Tony bit his lip to prevent himself from releasing an immediate hell yes. 

Tony originally met Jack in college at one of OSU’s Solute to Service events while he was still playing football. Jack had been in the area for about a month while on downtime after an injury, which left the two plenty of time for a brief affair. When Jack had to go back to his life though, Tony hadn’t been completely able to let go, and convinced the Air Force Captain to let him write now and then. 

Since then, they’d communicated throughout some of the worst points of each of their lives, including the death of Jack’s son Charlie, the end of his marriage, Tony’s career ending football injury, and his bout with the plague. Through it all, Tony’s attraction to the older man had remained a steady burn in his blood that he could never quite put out. Tony supposed that it was why none of his other attempts at a relationship had worked. So, when Jack announced that he’d taken a promotion that would see him in DC permanently, Tony gave into the inevitable. 

It wasn’t an easy road. Not with the two of them having to keep secrets from the other constantly because of their jobs. But maybe the fact that they both had secrets to keep was why it was easier this time than when Tony had been the only one with things he couldn’t share. Still, Tony had been hesitant to expose his relationship to his coworkers, and given the current circumstances, he wondered just how long he subconsciously hadn’t trusted the people around him.

“You’re also going to need a bigger closet because I am not getting rid of any of my suits for you,” Tony added and was happy when Jack just gave a snort of pleasure with maybe just a small eye roll. Letting himself feel the full smile that spread his own lips, Tony moved around the island to steal another kiss from his partner, before moving to get the things he needed from the fridge. When Jack shifted the conversation to the hockey game that he’d watched the previous night, Tony listened and inserted a question here and there letting the stress of the day melt away.

It was a relatively nice evening for late April in DC, so they’d decided to eat out on the back deck. Afterwards, the cigars were brought out so that all but Tony could indulge. Seats were rearranged slightly so that he was sitting upwind of everyone, and when things were situated again, the conversation turned back to business.

“In the morning, Special Agent McGee, you will need to be at the Pentagon at 9AM,” Hammond began with his sight locked on Tim. “There are some serious questions I want answered before I am willing to make a decision on what to do about your actions. We also will be looking at your security clearance. We have an issue that Jack believes Special Agent DiNozzo will be perfect for. 

“Tom believes that you can be reigned in if you’re put with the correct people. I’m not fully convinced yet, but I am willing to be persuaded. Tomorrow will determine if we let you assist Special Agent DiNozzo with his upcoming assignment or if I drop you in a hole somewhere. I can promise you that if I tell someone it was necessary there’s no one including the President who will question me.”

“Tony,” Tom started drawing everyone’s attention after Tim finished stammering his understanding of the order. “You know that I’ve been trying to get you to come onboard with me at Homeland since I left. Something has come up that I need your help with. The timing is a little coincidental, but I assure you that this offer would have been made even if this evening’s events at NCIS hadn’t happened. A situation came up last Thursday evening, and we’ve come to realize that Jack’s… department doesn’t have anyone qualified to investigate the situation.”

The wording seemed normal enough, but the pause between Jack’s and department told Tony that there was more than what was being said. Tony knew that Jack was a Big Damned Hero, capitol letters and all. Just like he suspected that whatever his partner did it was a little more serious than chasing your everyday terrorist. What exactly it was, Tony didn’t know, but a not so small part of him had always hated the idea that Jack was off somewhere that Tony couldn’t be. So, it wasn’t exactly unwelcomed that just maybe Tony’s career and Jack’s could finally intersect.

Tony watched gazes connect around the table and nods being given before Jack turned to look at him. “Sam’s dead,” he said softly, and Tony forgot to breathe for a moment. 

“Jesus, Jack,” Tony whispered before standing and wrapping his arms around Jack’s shoulders. He hadn’t met many of his partners friends, mostly because it seemed that a large portion of them apparently worked for him. Of the ones that he’d met, Daniel Jackson was the one that Tony knew the best. The archaeologist had spent many a night in one of the guestrooms and loved to indulge Tony’s interest in Ancient Greece and Greek mythology. 

Tony only met Colonel Samantha Carter a few times. Most of them were because she was in town for some Air Force event that she needed to attend. Even if Jack hadn’t already confessed that there had been an attraction between himself and Sam that might have become something if it weren’t for Tony, the NCIS agent would have known within minutes of meeting Col. Carter. For starters, she didn’t hide her feelings about Tony very well. 

There was an air of jealousy to her standoffishness that screamed “you took my man” to him. There was also the way that she interacted with Jack both when she knew Tony was there and also when she didn’t. Tony had never been worried about Jack’s faithfulness. Once they got together, it was forever. He also didn’t get the vibe off Sam that she was trying to do something shady like lure Jack away. Tony understood the complications of feelings, even those that you knew were unreturned. He’d always hoped that Carter would find someone who would love her as much as she deserved. It made him sad that she’d never get the chance.

When Jack stood and shoved his chair away before storming out into the back yard, Tony waited only long enough to make his thoughts clear to Morrow. “Whatever it is, I accept. Whatever you need me to do to investigate this make it happen. I’ll sign whatever you want me to sign. Just… make it happen, Tom. Please?”

“Plan on going in with Jack tomorrow,” Morrow ordered not looking the slightest bit surprised. “Paul will have you sign all the necessary paperwork, and then we’ll get you caught up on the situation. Tell Jack I said if he needs time, I’m still willing to give it to him.” 

Tony nodded and then hurried off after Jack. Whatever had happened could wait till morning. Jack needed him more right then than they did.

Tony expected that when he found Jack, the older man would be sitting on the dock hanging over the pond at the back of their property. His partner had argued like hell to get a home with water access. There had been a gorgeous estate that backed up to the Potomac River. It had been a little big for what the two of them needed, but Jack had fallen in love with it. 

The access to the river had been both a large reason why he wanted the property so bad and why he hadn’t been able to buy it. The water access had been determined to be a huge security risk that no one felt like they could properly guard. So, Jack hadn’t gotten the house. When this house had come up for sale, Jack insisted on it even before seeing it. It was really a whole lot more land than they needed at just over 10 acres, but the pond was well stocked with fish. There was no way that Jack was backing down and, in the end, got the house that was probably actually perfect for him.

Tony found it amusing that as much as Jack loved water, he’d gone into the Air Force instead of the Navy. There was a widow’s peak on top of the house that just happened to be the perfect size for Jack’s telescope and some chairs though and Tony knew that the one thing that Jack loved more than fishing was looking at the stars.

When he reached the pond, Tony found Jack exactly where he’d expected to see him, and quietly sat down next to him, curling his feet up underneath himself as he waited for Jack to start speaking.

“I need you on this,” Jack said with a voice husky enough that Tony wondered if his partner had been crying while they were apart. Sitting down next to his partner close enough that their shoulders touched, Tony curled his fingers with Jack’s and just listened. 

“They won’t let me work this. I tried. I fucking threw every card I have at them, and repeatedly they told me no. So, I need you on this because I need someone I know and trust to find who killed her.”

“I know this isn’t what you want to hear, Jack, but you shouldn’t be working this case. Not just because you are way too close to this to be objective. Hunting down the killer of someone you loved is exactly the situation that I just left, and how’s that going for Leon Vance? You also don’t have the training to conduct a proper investigation into who killed her and put them in prison. While I know you have killed people, there’s no way you could go after the person who did this and settle for a life behind bars. Killing in a battle type situation is completely different than killing for revenge, and I don’t want to see you cross that line.”

“If it was just Hammond, he would have let me go after whoever did this,” Jack snapped angrily, and Tony almost sighed, but held it in. “It’s that fucking Morrow who’s being difficult. I already know who killed her. I don’t fucking need an investigation to tell me. Not to mention, if I am right about who it is, that person isn’t going to prison. It will make more sense to you tomorrow, but trust me when I say if I’m right, this person's life expectancy is counting down in days not years. So, you need to make sure you can handle that.”

“And comments like that are exactly why you can’t be involved, Jack!” Tony bit back and then took a deep breath to calm himself down. The timing of this whole thing sucked, and Jack deserved more than to have Tony take his frustrations over NCIS out on him when he was probably drowning in guilt and grief over Sam.

“Morrow, unlike Hammond who is as emotionally compromised right now as you are, has led an investigative agency. He knows what he’s talking about, and he knows that you being involved in this in any way will get this thrown out of court before we even have a chance to put this scumbag behind bars. You say you know who killed her, but do you know this for a fact or is this some kind of gut thing. Because if you had actual evidence none of you would need me, and the second part of that gets innocent people convicted or turns you into Gibbs. I’ve already told Morrow to do whatever he needed to get me on this case. I’m going to find out who actually did this. I’m going to do my best to put whomever is responsible behind bars for the rest of their life. 

“I know you’re upset. Hell, I’ve been where you are. When Ari killed Kate, I wanted blood, and trust me when I say Gibbs was onboard with that. The thing is though that everything just became worse chasing the man who killed her, and I think Morrow and Shepard allowing it is one of the points where Gibbs turned from a good agent who sometimes bent the rules to a bully who did whatever the hell he pleased because he knew he could get away with it. I will do everything in my power to prevent that from happening to you.

  
“As for the last part, I’ll have to wait till tomorrow to comment on that when I have a full idea of what’s happening. I can assure you though that while I’ve never been involved in it before I understand there are times when the checks and balances of justice are a little murkier. I get the concept that some people are too dangerous or know too much to put in prison, even if it was a high security prison. That being said, I still want a full investigation done. If there’s a chance that we’re going straight from what the evidence says to you’re dead, I will insist on it even more. The bottom line here is that I’m not willing to compromise anymore or look the other way when I suspect things aren’t on the up and up. Look where that’s gotten me.”

Jack didn’t immediately respond, and when the older man turned his gaze away from the pond to look at him, Tony calmly looked back trying to convey all the love and understanding he had in him over what Jack was going through. He genuinely understood where Jack was at mentally, and he hated that his love had to go through this. No matter what else happened in the investigation, Tony swore to himself that he would find the answer to who killed Sam. Even if he had to spend the rest of his life looking.

“I hate Gibbs,” Jack offered and Tony being aware of this just nodded his understanding. “I sure as fuck don’t want to be anything like that asshat. I kinda forgot about Kate for a moment and the fact that Morrow’s dealt with a situation very much like this before. I think as long as I know you’re heading up this thing then I will do my best to stay out of it. I trust you. I just don’t trust a stranger to understand not just what Sam meant to me, but what she meant to all of SGC and frankly the planet, too. It’s more than a suspicion about who did it. I just can’t say anything more right now. I trust you. Hell, you may be one of the few people in the world I do trust with this.”

“I take back what I said earlier, you definitely had the worse day,” Tony admitted and when Jack snorted, Tony felt relieved. He hoped it meant that they were past Jack’s frustration. Tony hated when they fought, even if it was just bickering. It was probably a product of his childhood and all the fights he had to endure between Senior and his mom, but Tony hated it when he and Jack were at odds. Fortunately, the two of them were pretty harmonious and full-blown screaming arguments didn’t happen often.

“Your day was absolutely the worst, Sam died like almost a week ago. I had the worse day then; you just didn’t know it. We didn’t even talk that day. Selfishly, I am really glad that I can finally tell you everything now. While I trust Paul and the rest of the other people around me, you have the ability to see things from a different perspective. There ‘re times when I really wish I could get your opinion on things, and now I can. Hammond is making sure that your new security clearance is one so that we can discuss everything. I don’t like the secrets between us.”

“Yeah,” Tony breathed and leaned harder against Jack. When his partner wrapped an arm around his shoulders Tony sighed happily and looked out at the forest beyond the pond. The morning would start his new life, and even though he hated how things were ending with NCIS, he was ecstatic over the possibilities of things to come from his future.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

  
Spencer pulled his Amazon up outside the house that Morgan was finishing up. After turning the engine off, he sat and considered the last few months since he and Derek quit the FBI. After leaving the conference room, Spencer headed to his desk to gather some personal items that he didn’t want to lose. Then, he stopped in Derek’s office to see his friend brooding angrily behind his desk. After advising his best friend what his intentions were, Spencer then headed up to Assistant Director John Evan’s office with a somewhat confused Derek trailing after him.

Spencer was aware that Derek was confused by the decision to go to the AD. His friend obviously didn’t know that Spencer had a personal connection with the man who also held a role as his Sponsor. So, because of that fact, the meeting with AD Evans was an eye opener for Derek. John had been much more open to Spencer’s complaints and concerns than Morgan expected. When Spencer laid out what he was going to do in Derek’s office, Morgan was sceptical that the AD would either listen or care. 

Not only had AD Evans listened, but he’d taken Spencer’s complaints about Strauss seriously. Then, when he gave the AD his resignation, John was openly disappointed but understanding. Afterwards the two had a late lunch, and it was Spencer’s turn to be surprised when Derek accepted that the older man had helped him out over the years, but Spencer couldn’t go into more detail about it. 

When Aaron found out that they’d both quit he hadn’t been happy but like Evans had been supportive and in the end he’d decided that maybe it was time he looked for something new himself. Thanks to an inheritance that he’d been sitting on from his mother’s estate, Hotch didn’t have to work, and had plenty of time to wait for the right thing to come along.

Getting over Maeve’s death had been harder than anything Reid had done before, and Spencer had talked to both Hotch and a therapist to get his head back in order. Lately though, the genus had been itching to get back to work, so when Tom Morrow called with a job offer, Spencer had quickly advised that he’d listen as long as Derek was included. The two were to be meeting Morrow at the Pentagon for some reason that Spencer was unclear of, and thought he should touch base with Derek before then. While they’d talked quite a bit since they’d both quit, this decision had been made by them each separately.

Derek had told him to just come in when he’d texted the address. So, when Spencer reached the front door, he went inside and after calling out to Derek followed the sound of his voice to the kitchen. “When do the floors go in?”

Derek looked to be putting in the backsplash tiles, but he turned to flash his friend a grin before he turned back to what he was doing. “Next week. I got the painting done early, and thought I’d start on the backsplash since I have time.”

“This is going to look amazing when it’s done,” Spencer observed as he wandered around the kitchen and living room area that had an open concept to it.

“Yeah, I’m seriously thinking of keeping it for myself and moving,” Derek replied as he fit another tile into the pattern on the wall. “I think I need something new. Ya know, a new home to go with the new job and all that.”

“That sounds awesome,” Spencer offered as he moved forward closer to examine what Derek was doing. “I’m thinking of moving myself. Too many people from the FBI know where I live, and I’d like some of them not to. About the job part though, have you decided if you want to keep doing this or are you interested in another law enforcement job? I have a meeting tomorrow about a potential position, and they’re interested in having you on the team as well.”

Derek finished tiling what he had started before turning to rest his back against the counter and give Spencer his full attention. “I dunno, man. I’ll be honest in that I have been enjoying not having to get into the heads of scumbags all the time. Who is the job with? What would we be doing?”

“We would be moving over to Homeland Security. I don’t know exactly what the position is except that we would be reporting directly to Director Morrow. He’s been trying to recruit me for a while. I guess they have a pretty serious case that they need some help with and would prefer it not fall to the FBI. I don’t quite understand how they can stop that but I said that I’d listen. He said that they have someone else though that they’re eyeballing for one of the leadership spots. So, I don’t know how you feel about that. I just… I feel like I cost you your job and I wanted to make up for it if you’re interested.”

“OK, hold up, Pretty Boy. Stop that nonsense right now. You didn’t cost me anything. Erin Strauss cost me my job when she thought she’d tear up our team while you were grieving and Hotch was struggling with his own memories. I’ll be honest, a little time away has given me some perspective, and I’m not sure I want to lead anything. I mean it sounds great, until you find out all the paperwork and political stuff that comes with it. That part just ain’t me. So, the leadership part I wouldn’t care about. I don’t know much about Homeland though. Don’t they mostly chase terrorists?”

Spencer listened to Derek and nodded occasionally as Derek made a statement that he agreed with. The question about Homeland was one he’d asked himself not sure that he wanted to go from chasing serial killers and the like to terrorists. It sounded like it would be more stress not less, and Spencer wasn’t sure he was up for a more stressful job. 

“I had the same hesitation, but Director Morrow says that it’s not what we’d expect, but he couldn’t go into detail without us signing some Non Disclosure Agreements and stuff. So, if we’re interested, he said we should meet him at General Jack O’Neill’s office over at the Pentagon tomorrow morning. I don’t quite understand how this General is involved, but I think I would at least like to hear what they have to say.”

“Alright, Pretty Boy, I’m in,” Derek agreed and then turned back to what he’d been doing. “How are you doing otherwise? I’ve been tryin’ to give you your space. I know Hotch has been comin’ over. He’s been checking on me, too.”

Spencer frowned at the question and tried to ignore the surge of pain as he thought about Maeve. “I don’t know anymore, I think. I’ve been seeing the doctor that Hotch went to after Haley died. The thing that he made me realize is that the relationship with Maeve maybe wasn’t what I’d made it out to be in my head. Even if she hadn’t died, I don’t know what would have happened. I mean, I cared for her, but she’d spent years in hiding, and would have needed time to become comfortable with not having to do that anymore before jumping into a relationship.

“And, while I know plenty of people these days have relationships online before they ever meet, our relationship wasn’t even that. It wasn’t like I could just text her anytime I wanted. I could only call at certain times and there was always this air of danger in it that clouded things, I think. The further I get away from it, the more I don’t know if I was in love with her or the potential for what she represented. I do know though that I want something real now. I want someone in my life. I just haven’t figured out how to accomplish that. Can I… I need to ask you something.”

“OK,” Derek acknowledged and looked over his shoulder at his friend. “Can I work and listen too? I’m not in a spot that I can stop right now.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. It’s just… When I met… I’m not as innocent as you all think I am. It’s just that you all focus on the wrong gender or maybe not wrong just that you only focus on one gender. I have almost no experience with girls, but I mean, I had a boyfriend when I met Gideon. It wasn’t like forever serious, and we both knew that at some point our paths would go separate ways. He was older than me and was starting his own business.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone this before, Spencer?” Derek asked having abandoned his tile work having decided the conversation was more important. “Do you think any of us would care?”

“Gideon said you would!” Spencer defended himself, and then took a deep breath to calm himself when Derek just watched him. “Gideon said that if I wanted to be part of the FBI that I’d have to hide that part of myself. I mean, I consider myself pansexual and gender doesn’t really make a difference to me. It’s just that all of my past experience has been with men. I didn’t… 

“At first, I didn’t know any better and I went along with it because I was young and foolish and thought Gideon hung the moon and the stars. Then, by the time I figured things out, I didn’t know how to say anything, and there hasn’t been a situation come up where I needed to tell the truth. So, I’ve just been keeping it to myself. Lately though… Well my relationship I had in college came up in counseling and ever since then I haven’t been able to stop thinking that maybe I made a wrong choice somewhere along the way.”

Spencer watched the anger flash across Derek’s face and he worried that his friend was upset that he’d kept his sexual preferences a secret for so long. Fortunately, when Morgan did speak, his first words made clear that it wasn’t Reid he was upset with.

“The more distance we get from Gideon the more I hate that motherfucker. Man, I hated the way he messed with your head, and this just takes the fuckin’ cake. What a goddamned hypocrite. I probably shouldn’t be talking out of school, but it feels now like you should know. Did you know that Jason and Max had a fling? Rossi told me one night when we ended up at the same jazz club. Apparently, it could even have been part of why Jason and his wife got divorced. Dave thinks they may have even been messing around while they were both married. That fuckin’ bastard.

“To be clear, I don’t care what gender your sexual partner is, Spencer. All I care about is that they make you happy. While I don’t want to speak for anyone else, I would be really shocked if anyone else on the old team cared either. I don’t like the thought of you hiding things like that to try and fit in. It’s bullshit. You’ve had to hide enough in your life. I’m not sayin’ you should drape yourself in a gay pride flag everyday if that ain’t your thing. I’m just saying that you should be able to be you. If we take this new gig, then I want you to promise me that you won’t hide that part of yourself if something comes up.”

“OK,” Spencer agreed and flushed happily as Derek crossed the room and pulled him into his arms.

“Hotch and I just want you to fuckin’ be happy, Spencer, and if a guy is it then a guy it is. Fuck anyone who doesn’t like it. I’m happy to kick their asses any time any place if they fuck with you.”

Spencer snorted as Derek pulled back and tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “My own personal bodyguard. I promise though. I won’t hide if I find a guy that I am interested in. It would be nice not to hide to be honest. I hated having to keep that part of myself a secret from you all. You aren’t the only one who thinks that we’re better off without him the longer Gideon is out of our lives. I don’t want to think about him anymore though. Do you need help? I mean, I don’t know much about what you’re doing, but I’ll help if I can.”

“Yeah, man, that’d be great. Le’me show you what I’m doing.” Spencer moved over to the counter with Derek and for the rest of the afternoon talked nonsense with his friend trying not to think about either his future or his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to angst over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!


	3. Chapter 3

#  Chapter Two

Tony was sitting on the edge of Jack’s desk the next morning chatting with his Personal Assistant Maj. Paul Davis. Tony met Paul before and at first hadn’t known what to think of the man. He then ran into the Major outside of his work environment and found out that there were two very different sides to Davis. That led to a long conversation where Tony was reminded that almost everyone has things about them that are completely different at work than they are in real life. In this case the quick to judge and always opinionated Maj. Davis who knew rule books inside and out was definitely different than the leather clad and more laid-back side of him that Tony enjoyed a concert with at a local bar.

They were waiting on three more people. Two of which Tony didn’t know and the third being Delilah Fielding whose transfer to Homeland from the Department of Defense was already underway. Tony was a little surprised that she’d jumped at the change so fast. However, when Tony expressed his surprise on the drive to work with Jack, his partner suggested that most likely SecDef had a hand in her decision. Needless to say, Tony’s curiosity was off the charts, and he was more than ready to get the finding out what the hell the secret was portion of the morning underway.

Tim was or should be shortly ensconced in a conference room where he would spend the morning being questioned by one of Hammond and one of Morrow’s best investigators. While Tony hadn’t been sure what he wanted as far as Tim was concerned, by the time he woke up, Tony had come to the decision that he wanted another shot molding McGee into a first class agent. Even though he knew that he wouldn’t have any final say in the decision, he’d placed an early call to Morrow to make sure his preference was known. 

Leaving NCIS for Homeland wasn’t as big of a deal emotionally thus far as Tony had expected. Possibly at some point in the future he would have some kind of emotional response to it, but when Jack asked how he was doing during their commute, Tony was, for once, completely honest when he said he was doing fine. Things weren’t perfect at the moment. Tony wasn’t naïve in understanding that both Director Vance and Ziva as well as who knows who all from Mossad would be displeased with him. 

Individually, Vance and Ziva had long reaches when you combine both their above board and underhanded connections. Together though they were a scary combination. Fortunately, Tony knew that Jack had his own resources that when combined with the various people that Tony believed he could trust were worthy of taking on the duo.

So, his personal danger had been pushed to the back of his mind as much as it could be, while his focus was on the secret that Jack had been keeping as well as the investigation into Samantha Carter’s death. When he and Jack got back to the house from their conversation at the pond, Tony ended up in his own private discussion. His though was strictly with Director Morrow, as Tim was left to fend for himself with Jack and SecDef Hammond.

During his conversation with Morrow, one of the first things they discussed was Tony’s ambition or perceived lack thereof. It hadn’t been an easy conversation, but Tony had been forced to admit both to himself and Morrow that he had to swallow the drive he had coming into NCIS when forced to weigh it against the faux family that Gibbs and Abby claimed for so many years that Team Gibbs was. Morrow had rightfully pointed out that you don’t become the youngest Detective in Philadelphia PD history without some healthy professional ambition.

However, once he reached Team Gibbs, it was made clear that you were there till Gibbs said so. At the beginning, coming off Danny’s betrayal, Tony needed the things that his new boss was selling him so badly that he swallowed the plans he had for himself prior to the job change. It wasn’t just professional ambition either. When forced to think back on his life and the things he’d accomplished, Tony acknowledged that you don’t become a two-sport college athlete on the level that he had and the positions that he played without a hell of a lot of ambition. 

The need to prove Senior wrong on multiple levels had always been something that burned at Tony’s very core. It was just that the need to be accepted by something that resembled the family relationships that he never really had superseded that and Gibbs knew it. So, when talking to Morrow, Tony eventually came to the conclusion that while he wasn’t sure he was ready right that second for a Team Lead position, that he could see himself wanting it at some point in the future. He just had to get back to that part of himself first.

In the end, the two of them agreed upon a lateral move that would lead to a Team Lead position in a year or two. It seemed that Morrow was courting someone from the FBI for a Team Lead position, and the sticking point was that this person wasn’t sure how much longer he would want to continue travelling so much. Whomever Tom was talking to, had a younger child that this person was raising as a single parent. One of the items that Tom was offering was a sort of temporary position that would move into something more home bound within Homeland at the end of a set time period. 

It was an arrangement that Tony not only felt that he could live with, but that excited him. The period of 24 months max would be enough that Tony felt that he could get the negative things he’d picked up during his time at NCIS out of his system. While at the same time he could get a second view of a management style that would allow him to hone his own ideas about the things he did and didn’t want to be as a leader. 

Therefore, Tony had officially accepted a position that would essentially make him Second in Command of the new unit that Morrow was forming for whatever secret thing Jack was doing. Tony was a little shocked at just how excited he was about the whole situation. He was usually one that liked the concept of change less than most, but once he’d admitted that his time at NCIS had run its course, his enthusiasm about what would come next shot through the roof.

When Morrow asked him about anyone that he might want on the team, the first person that came to mind was Tim’s new girlfriend that Tony technically hadn’t been supposed to know about yet. Tony admitted, even if it was only to himself, that maybe he was a tad too invested in McGee, but in his own defense to himself, he pointed out that Tim was after all his first Probie. It was a relationship that Tony took seriously, despite what some thought, and had put a lot of work into. 

So, when he’d sniffed out Delilah Fielding and got the idea that things were getting serious between her and his Probie, Tony did some digging. Having a personal connection to her new boss had been a big help, and Jack said George was amused enough by the request that he’d done some of the digging himself instead of having his new PA do it all. What Tony found out was that Delilah was one of the brightest minds at the Department of Defense and was one of their top Intelligence Analysts. 

The fact that they were willing to give her up to be a part of his new team told Tony quite a bit about this new job he was taking. He was simultaneously worried and proud that Jack held such a high position in such an important job. Tony was very well aware that they didn’t give just anyone an office in the Pentagon.

A little over an hour later, Tony was sitting around a conference room table with Jack and Delilah along with two agents from the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid. Tim was still being interrogated and according to Jack he probably would be for the rest of the day. Despite his conflicted feelings where Tim was concerned, Tony was all onboard with McGeek being sweated a little by people who could put the fear of God and whatever else fit into his Probie. 

The team was waiting on Dr. Daniel Jackson, whom Tony had not been aware that he was a part of his partner’s team. When Tony asked how the two men met, Jack made some flip comment about work and Daniel’s inability to keep his nose out of classified military business when it crossed over with his dead people and deader societies. Tony remembered being amused and suspicious, but as with a lot of things in their relationship he’d let it drop.

While they were waiting, Tony had distributed the case file copies that he’d made. Digital copies would require computer access that none of them had yet. Fortunately, Paul was used to handling all kinds of requests at the last minute. So, putting together paper copies of the case files hadn’t been much of a difficulty, according to him. As he reviewed the file, Tony took notes on a legal pad that he’d also gotten from Paul. There were a couple items that jumped out at him right away, and since they had time Tony thought maybe now would be a good time to ask Jack some informal questions. 

“Lt. General O’Neill, would you be willing to answer some basic questions about Col. Carter?”

Jack arched his eyebrow at the use of his title, but eventually nodded after closing the laptop he’d been using for work. 

“It says that her body was found in an abandoned train depot in Baltimore, MD. I am not as familiar with the Air Force Base locations as I am with the Naval and Marine Base locations, but I am familiar with Baltimore and that train depot. So, I know that Andrews Air Force Base is about an hour from where she was found. In her case file it lists the base she was deployed to as classified. So, I can only come to a few possibilities from that. Either the Air Force does things a lot different than the Navy or Marines when it comes to deployment, Sam wasn’t based out of Andrews, or there’s something going on at that base that plays into the hand cramp I got signing all those digital NDAs.”

“Brigadier General Carter was not located out of Andrews Air Force Base. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t based out of any Air Force Base on the East Coast. Once your paperwork goes through the system will tell you that she was based out of Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Co. However, she was more or less based out of Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Base.”

“Two questions, Lt. General,” Spencer Reid started speaking up for the first time since the introductions were made. Tony was pleasantly surprised to realize that he had some familiarity with SSA Derek Morgan, who played for Northwestern University in football at the same time Tony played for Ohio State. SSA Reid, who it seems was actually Dr. Reid, though was a complete stranger. Despite this, Tony could see some characteristics that indicated Dr. Reid was highly intelligent. He was intrigued to see how he would get along with McGee.

“The case file lists the victim’s rank as Colonel, but you just identified her as a Brigadier General. So, I just wanted to clarify what her official rank was. My second question is in regards to your statement about her more or less being based out of Cheyenne Mountain. The Air Force doesn’t have an official Base in Cheyenne. There are two bases and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and one base in Denver. The only thing located in Cheyenne Mountain is NORAD. So, my question is how can she be based out of a location that doesn’t have an Air Force Base, and what does more or less mean?”

The more Dr. Reid spoke, the harder it was for Tony not to wince. While he knew that Morrow would never have placed Dr. Reid and SSA Morgan on his team if they weren’t exceptional at their jobs, Tony did suddenly wonder how long it would take them to adapt to the differences between working mostly with civilians and the military. When Tony glanced at SSA Morgan to see his reaction to the question, he saw a wince that was quickly masked by a look that suggested he wasn’t really surprised about the recent turn of events.

In Tony’s experience, the higher up you got on the military food chain, the more sensitive you had to be to how you asked certain questions. Both questions were things Tony would have clarified himself, and the first question was fine. It was really the second question and how it was worded that was the problem. It wasn’t as if Tony didn’t know how to google Air Force Base locations. 

Tony already had the Air Force Base locations pulled up on his cell from the Air Force’s official website. So, he knew that they didn’t officially list Cheyenne Mountain as a base they claimed on the record. He also knew that it didn’t mean the base didn’t exist. He couldn’t help but wonder if the good Doctor really didn’t know that there were bases in all arms of the military that weren’t public knowledge or if he was always that matter of fact when questioning someone.

Tony hoped that the second was closer to the issue. While the first would be technically easier to correct, the underlying naivety might be harder to deal with on a team of the level his was. Although, basically calling a Lt. General a liar wasn’t great either. In fact, it was not a good way for the Dr. to start off, because being a liar was one thing no one would accuse Jack O’Neill of being. Most of the time, he was too damned honest. 

While Tony didn’t have much experience with Jack in a work scenario, he had seen him interacting with a handful of people his partner had identified as “work associates” over the years. Outside of work Jack was just about as laid back and easy going as you got. Tony had found though that no one got to the level of General of any ranking or in any branch of the military and have that person be described as easy going or laid back professionally. They were all hard working, intense, and best described as an asshole on varying levels.

“Well, I stand corrected, Dr. Reid,” Jack snarked and Tony didn’t even bother to try to hide his wince. His partner was definitely pissed off by the question. “A 32-yr. old former FBI profiler says that the base I’ve worked out of or been associated for the last 16 years of my damned life doesn’t exist. So, I guess that means I’m lying. 

“Although I was pretty positive that I had an extensive history with the base myself, along with Major Davis who I thought visited a great number of times over the years. At least, I thought we did. Maybe we had some kind of mass hallucination. I better drag my ass to the nearest head shrinker and take Paul with me, because it seems I have a really big damned problem according to a man who’s never been in any branch of the military and has almost no experience with any branch of the armed services.”

Tony watched Dr. Reid narrow his eyes and prayed to the Gods he didn’t believe in that the former FBI agent wasn’t going to make things worse. When it looked like the younger man was going to speak, Tony started to cut him off. Before either of them could speak though, he heard Derek say Spencer’s name quietly and the younger of the two closed his mouth without speaking. When Delilah spoke before Tony could, he decided to let her handle things trusting she was more familiar with how to handle people of Jack’s rank.

“I’m sure Dr. Reid didn’t intend to imply you were lying and that the base doesn’t exist. While Dr. Reid and SSA Morgan’s BAU team did deal with a number of high-profile cases, we both know dealing with important civilians is different than dealing with high ranking military types. He probably is less familiar than Special Agent DiNozzo and myself with the concept of off the book locations the size of a military base, which I am guessing the Cheyenne Mountain base is.”

“This is a new team, and this is a high-profile case,” Tony interjected when Jack didn’t reply immediately. “There’s bound to be some growing pains as we adjust to both each other, but on top of that SSA Morgan and Dr. Reid will have to adjust to working mostly in a military setting. A couple things that Morgan and Reid don’t know is that not only do you and I have a personal relationship, but Brig. Gen. Carter was a longtime close friend of yours. So, this case hits close to home on a number of levels for you. I’m guessing that the Air Force Base is hidden underneath NORAD?”

Jack nodded and took a long drink of his coffee before speaking. “Yeah, we’ve used a connection to NORAD as a cover story for anyone who found out about the base without the correct security clearance level for years. As to the rank discrepancy, Sam was scheduled to be promoted to Brig. Gen. and then take over Cheyenne from the current commander Hank Landry. After she was killed, I made sure that she would still get her promotion and her burial would recognize her higher ranking.”

“I apologize, Lt. General O’Neill, I lost someone important to me at the beginning of the year myself. So, I can empathize with your loss. It wasn’t my intention to accuse you of lying. Sometimes I forget to stop and think about my question before I ask it. Theoretically, I knew that classified bases exist, but Agent Fielding is correct in that I have almost no familiarity with them. I assume the classified nature of the posting has something to do with the more or less part of your answer?”

Jack nodded after flashing a weak smile. “After Dr. Jackson brief’s you, you’ll understand what I mean by more or less. Please, call me Jack. If things work out, you guys will be Tony’s team and I hope that we’ll all be able to get to know each other. I don’t much stand on formality unless I have to.”

Tony released a sigh, happy that things were worked out so smoothly. When the Doctor asked one last question though, Tony’s jaw dropped. This time though his shock was for a different reason.

“One last question, this Dr. Jackson that we’re waiting on. Is it the same Dr. Daniel Jackson who wrote the papers on his theories involving cross-pollination of ancient cultures and the Egyptian pyramids being landing sites for alien spaceships and were far older than previously thought?”

All Tony could think was holy fuck.

  
  


~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

After Dr. Daniel Jackson filled the four of them in on their new reality that apparently really did involve aliens, Tony insisted on three of the four members of his team available going to see the site where the body had been dumped. Spencer wasn’t sure what to think of his new team leader, but like most things he was willing to keep an open mind until he had enough information to make an informed decision. Delilah was apparently staying behind to start her digging around in the SGC’s personnel files.

The three members who had gone out in the field, Spencer, Derek, and Tony, were currently at the abandoned train depot where Brig. Gen. Carter had been found. Spencer and Derek were checking out the area while Tony talked to the Local PD. So far, Spencer thought he’d spent more time studying Tony than he had the scene, and knew he’d have to get his head in the right mindset. He couldn’t help his preoccupation though.

The only real team leaders that he’d ever known were Gideon and Hotch, and this DiNozzo didn’t seem to be anything like either one of them. If he resembled anyone from his former team, it would probably be Rossi, but even that didn’t seem like a perfect comparison.

As he was watching DiNozzo, Spencer saw one of the Detectives hand Tony a file and what appeared to be evidence. From the look on Tony’s face, he would guess that the other man wasn’t pleased by something. If he had to guess, Reid would say it was the evidence that had been held back, but since the former NCIS agent was a stranger it was hard to say for sure. DiNozzo had informed them on the drive over that he’d worked for the Baltimore PD at one time as a Detective. Spencer couldn’t help but wonder how that relationship had ended. From the tone of the man’s voice when he offered the tidbit, Reid would guess it hadn’t ended well.

“Spencer, I don’t think we’re going to get much from this place,” Derek admitted pulling his attention back to the task at hand. “According to the file we got, this isn’t where Carter was killed. I don’t even understand what we’re doing if they have someone who confessed.”

“You know confessions don’t always equal guilt,” Spencer reminded thinking back to the information Brig. Gen. O’Neill shared with them while they were waiting. “General O’Neill said there was no way that the man who confessed could have done everything he claimed on his own.”

“And how do we know the General didn’t kill her?” Derek shot back looking toward the back of the graffiti covered wall at the back of the depot. “For all we know he murdered this woman and this is all one big coverup. I mean, I know that they had all those pictures, but are we really supposed to believe that…”

“SSA Morgan, do I need to remind you what a goddamned Non-Disclosure Agreement means?”

Spencer stood and turned to see DiNozzo standing behind them with what was definitely evidence bags in his hands and a thunderous expression on his face. They were saved from having to hear the answer immediately, when Tony suggested they move the discussion back to the SUV if the two of them were done. Once inside the vehicle though with DiNozzo driving and Spencer in the passenger’s seat, it was made clear the temporary leader was not done.

“I can assure you that they were not kidding about the big damned hole they’ll drop you in, Morgan, if you can’t keep your mouth shut. You were given an opportunity to walk away if you can’t deal with this. I understand that we had a lot of information dumped on us. I assumed though that anyone who had worked for the BAU would understand the concept of confidentiality and Big Damned Secrets.”

Spencer turned his gaze to Derek, who was sitting behind them to see a mulish expression on his best friend’s face. He knew that this was hard for Derek to accept. Spencer remembered Morgan’s reaction to the case they’d worked where Emily’s friend had been killed by a demon, and Derek’s hell no reaction to the suggestion that the real killer had been anything but human. He also believed that if his friend would just give it a chance that he’d be really good at this. Protecting the world was just the kind of thing that he believed his friend was made for. They just had to get past his black and white view of things first.

“As for Jack being guilty, I can assure you that he has an ironclad alibi,” Tony assured only to have Derek huff.

“I suppose we’re supposed to believe that you’d never lie for your partner. That’s not how the world works, but maybe they do things differently at NCIS.”

When DiNozzo just cocked his head to one side and smirked at Derek, Spencer winced. Maybe bringing Derek along wasn’t the best idea that he’d ever had.

“Oh, I’m not any part of Jack’s alibi. I was helping another team with an undercover job and didn’t see him until well after Brig. Gen.. Carter was killed. However, I am fairly confident that almost anyone would consider the Secretary of Defense, the Director of Homeland Security, the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force and the President of the United States worthy alibis. So, you have until tomorrow morning to make up your mind, SSA Morgan.

“If you show up tomorrow for our transfer to Cheyenne Mountain then I expect you to be all onboard. I will not have you tainting either this investigation or this team with your outright hostility. I can handle a certain level of skepticism, but I will not have a repeat of your blatant disdain and the disrespect that you showed both General O’Neill and Dr. Jackson. Neither of them deserved it. I would think that someone who worked as a profiler and expected people to believe you can find a killer just by studying a scene and a few random tidbits of information to be a little more open minded.”

“That isn’t…” Spencer started but when DiNozzo held up his hand he stopped.

“I am not trying to degrade what you did, Dr. Reid. I am a very big believer in what a good profiler can bring to the team and have taken some classes in that area myself. I’m just trying to make a point. I don’t expect everything to be smooth going right now. I understand that there’s a learning curve for all of us, and more so for you and SSA Morgan. What I won’t tolerate is people being jerks just to be jerks.”

When Tony turned the discussion back to the case, Spencer found himself relieved. Derek needed time to get used to the idea, and Reid needed time to talk him around. Neither of which could happen while they were standing at the scene.

“What are either of your first impressions of this case?”

“It seems to me like there’s a really obvious choice for who is behind all of this, and I don’t understand why this team was needed to figure that out,” Derek offered a little more sharply than maybe was needed. When DiNozzo just nodded looking to be deep in thought, Spencer hoped he’d get away with it.

“Yeah, I agree,” DiNozzo commented, and the surprise on Derek’s face was obvious and not quickly hidden. “It seems to me that Gen. Landry is the most obvious suspect. Now, obviously, we’re going to have to see if there is any evidence to back that up. I am not interested in the least in assuming anyone’s guilt at this point beyond the people we know can’t be guilty. I have a guess about why we’re actually here, but I’ll need to talk to Jack some more to figure it out. Hopefully once we reach wherever they’re gonna stuff us at in the Mountain I’ll have more information.

“Since we’re going to be splitting up once we get back to the Pentagon, Dr. Reid, Jack asked me to give you this letter. Apparently, there’s someone at the mountain that you know. This person didn’t want you to be caught off guard if you see them tomorrow.”

Surprised, Spencer just stared at the letter for a moment, but eventually took it, stuffing it quickly into his bag to read once he got home.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

When Tony and Jack got home, he was glad to see that they had a little bit of time before Morrow arrived. After they got back to the Pentagon, Derek and Spencer left while Tony headed back upstairs to see how Delilah was doing and bug Jack. After both of those tasks were completed, he found a quiet spot, and called Morrow to express his concern over Derek Morgan.

Tony wasn’t surprised to hear that Morgan hadn’t been their first choice. Rather, Dr. Reid had asked that they include him, and they’d given in after seeing SSA Morgan’s record. They all still had time to turn down the job offer. Tony, McGee, Derek, and Spencer wouldn’t be signing their paperwork transferring them all to Homeland Security until the morning. Delilah it seemed would be remaining an employee of the Dept. of Defense, which made her placement make more sense.

Morrow assured Tony that Derek would work out if given the chance to wrap his head around such a huge secret. To help with Tony’s doubts though, Tom offered to come over that night with someone he thought would be able to ease Tony’s mind. Promising nothing more than burgers and fries with maybe a salad for dinner, the offer was accepted.

When Morrow arrived, Tony was pleasantly surprised to see his future boss Aaron Hotchner accompanying him. After introductions and the explanation was given, Tony invited the man who instructed him to call him Hotch to the music room where they could talk. While the library was Jack’s go to place for conversations with his work associates, the music room was Tony’s. It was his domain in the house, and Tony’s instincts told him he could trust Hotchner to respect the space.

The end result of the conversation found Tony much more accepting of specifically Morgan, but his new situation as a whole. While he’d never met Hotchner, Tony did know of the man’s reputation. Not only that, but the two of them had hit it off rather quickly, which didn’t happen with Tony much those days. Being cynical was one of the things he couldn’t blame on Gibbs. No, his cynicism where people were concerned was all a product of Senior.

Hotchner assured him that not only would Derek calm down if given the time, but that eventually he thought the two of them would get along well. The conversation then turned to each of their hopes and expectations for the team, and Tony felt himself relax further when Hotchner assured him that his place as Second in Command was not in question. When Tony explained how things worked on Team Gibbs, the former Unit Chief had been horrified, and assured him that he had no desire for such a murky chain of command.

Tony was pleasantly surprised that he and Hotchner had a mutual friend in Seeley Booth, whom apparently Hotchner had talked to the second he found out they were friends. Apparently, Morrow had passed on the bit of information knowing that they’d met during a joint case he’d assigned Tony to during his time as Director of NCIS. Hotchner promised Tony that he didn’t mind Tony doing the same.

Once Tony was done talking to Hotchner, he showed the other man to the library to join Jack and Tom and then excused himself to go change. While in the bedroom, Tony did called Seeley Boothe. After swearing that they’d get together once he was back in town to play basketball, Tony grilled his friend about not just Hotchner, but also Morgan and Reid whom it seemed Seeley knew less well, but did have some familiarity with. In the end, it was his friend’s assurances that Morgan would calm down after accepting whatever secret it was Tony couldn’t share.

“Morgan is a damned good Agent. Sometimes he just has to get past his black and white view of things, which you know I have a problem with myself. I mean, you remember how we butted heads at the beginning? Now look at us. I don’t know Dr. Reid well, but I’ve heard him talked about at the Smithsonian.

“I think he helps Brennan sometimes. I know that he has a really good reputation and is incredibly smart. From what I’ve heard though, unlike that jackass McGee you work with, Reid doesn’t act like it makes him better than anyone else. He’ll be good for your Probie. He’ll certainly bring him down a peg or two. Good luck with whatever it is, and if you need me holler. I’ll sign whatever you need if you need my help, man. That’s what friends do. I’m really glad you’re out of that cesspool.”

So, after promising, again, that they’d get together as soon as possible, Tony said his goodbyes and then rejoined the others. Later that evening, after Morrow and Hotchner had gone home once dinner was done, Tony sat out back on the swing next to Jack holding hands and looking up at the stars with a new appreciation.

“Why are you calling us in to investigate Sam’s death when I would bet every penny that I have that you know Landry is behind this?” Tony asked quietly and then sat without speaking, even when it seemed like Jack wasn’t going to.

“I hired him. I’m the one that put Hank in that seat, and I’m the one that didn’t act on the whispers quickly enough. I chalked them up to gossip and sour apples because no one would come forward officially. That makes it my fault that Sam’s dead, and God only knows what other messes are waiting for you at the mountain. I need a full picture of what he’s done, and I need a recommendation for who to replace him with that I can trust. I tried to quit, but the President wouldn’t let me.”

“Oh, Jack,” Tony breathed before turning as much as he could on the wooden swing and wrapped his arms around his partner. “It’s not your fault. Sam’s death is not your fault, even if Landry is guilty. It just makes him a conniving bastard and I will space him myself after I put a bullet in his brain.”

“I’m pretty sure that you’re supposed to think he’s going to jail,” Jack pointed out, his voice rough with emotion.

“I’m not new to this, Jack. There is no fucking way you people are letting Landry go to any prison located on earth. I know what I said last night, but as you said then things are different now that I know the whole story. So, unless you have a prison off planet somewhere then I am well aware that Landry won’t survive if it turns out he’s guilty. 

“This isn’t my first rodeo. I’m not sure how Morgan and Reid will take it. McGee will be shocked if he finds out. Sometimes he’s still a little wide eyed and innocent, but my guess is Fielding will know the score and set him straight. A man like Hotchner sure as fuck will understand. It’s not… your… fault.”

Jack didn’t answer, but the way he held onto Tony that night in bed, said everything that the younger partner needed to know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to angst over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To try and limit confusion between Daniel Jackson and Jackson Grimes, Jackson Grimes will be referred to Jax as much as possible.

#  Chapter Three

  
  
  


Spencer was standing in the conference room that they’d used the day before waiting for someone to arrive so the first group could leave for the base. Whatever that meant. He and Derek had come in early to fill out their paperwork. Derek’s skepticism had apparently not lessened overnight. Spencer thought that Tony’s reaction though was interesting, because whereas the day before he looked nearly ready to strangle Morgan, today he seemed almost amused. 

Spencer had been puzzling over the possible reasons for the change in attitude as he signed his name for what felt like the millionth time. Before he could comment, the conference room door opened, and in walked the last person Spencer expected to see. Maybe that was short sighted on his part given the letter he’d received. In fact, it was most certainly short sighted when he took into consideration all that he knew about Jackson Grimes. Unless he’d had a personality transplant, Jax was a man who went after what he wanted when he’d set his sights on something.

“Shepard-Not-Shepard, I’m impressed,” Jack greeted from where he was working on his own paperwork as Paul handed him folders of things to sigh. “You’re on time. This must be a record. What’s the ulterior motive?”

“I have my reasons. Tony, I’m happy to hear that you've finally moved out of that clown school who didn’t appreciate you. Danny, I have some things I want to go over with you for some of the devices we’re working on for your department. Dr. Reid, it’s nice to see you again.”

“Jax,” Spencer greeted as he felt his face heat up signaling, he was blushing. Internally, he damned Grimes for the effect that he had on him. It hadn’t helped that he’d spent hours thinking about their time together the previous night. Because their breakup had been amicable with both of them simply going in different directions, there had been a lot of good memories to recall. More than one of them had involved hours spent in bed making love.

Jackson Grimes was everything 21 yr. old Spencer Reid wanted. He was smart. He was attractive. He knew what he wanted to do with his life, and he wasn’t afraid or ashamed of it. The two met while Jackson was speaking in one of the Engineering professor’s classes. Even though Spencer had long ago gotten his Engineering Doctorate, the professor invited him to listen in on the 3-part lecture. By the end of the first class, he had already been hooked.

The romance had been hot and intense but doomed to be brief thanks to the appearance of Jason Gideon on campus for a lecture of his own. When Spencer realized that his life and Jackson’s were not on the same path, he was devastated. From the look on Jax’s face when Spencer finally forced himself to bring up their futures, it was apparent that while the revelation was new to him, Jax had known that they were doomed for some time.

Spencer had always secretly hoped that someday they would be brought back together. When Maeve died, he’d convinced himself that he was just never going to get to experience what long term love felt like as so many other people did. The last thing he expected was just a few months later that he’d have his dream job that came with the reappearance of one Jackson Grimes. 

When General O’Neill finished catching Jackson up to date, Spencer found he couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer. “You’re involved in all this, Jax?”

“Yes, the SGC seems to be turning into a family venture. Grimes Tech and Sheppard Industries split several of the government contracts for the SGC and two of my cousins are stationed with Stargate. You’ll see the youngest Aiden at Cheyenne, and the oldest, John, is with the Atlantis base.”

“You’re all crazy,” Derek threw in, and Spencer rolled his eyes at his friend’s stubbornness. When Jax just flashed that grin that suggested he was highly amused by something he knew and the other person didn’t, Spencer was intrigued.

Despite knowing that Jax was generally rather easy going in his personal life, Spencer knew how protective he was of his professional ventures. He was curious about the affectionate tone in Jax’s voice when he talked about the Sheppard’s. when they went their separate ways, Jackson had just met Patrick, and was still trying to decide if he wanted to try to do the family thing. So, when Derek made his disbelief of what seemed to be not just Jax’s work but his family’s, Spencer was slightly surprised.

General O’Neill however seemed to have reached his limit and after almost herding Jax, Spencer and Derek to where Daniel was standing, slipped what looked to be an earpiece into his ear and began speaking. “Daedalus, Dr. Jackson and three companions Dr. Grimes, Dr. Reid, and Special Agent Morgan to beam up. I have a couple things to cover here and then the rest of us will be joining them. I will signal when the rest of us are ready.”

“Come on, man,” Derek chided while Jackson just smirked at him. “Don’t you think you’re taking this whole thing a little…”

Derek’s voice trailed out as Spencer’s vision was blinded momentarily, but when he could see again, he found himself looking at an older, serious looking man who appeared to be an Air Force Colonel from the insignia on his uniform.

“Holy fucking shit! What was that? What the hell is going on here?” Derek snapped as he looked around somewhat wildly, and Spencer couldn’t help but snicker. The Colonel to his benefit just lifted an eyebrow before addressing them calmly.

“Doctors Jackson and Grimes, welcome back. Doctor Reid and Special Agent Morgan, welcome to the Daedalus. I would ask that Dr. Reid and Special Agent Morgan be accompanied by either Dr. Jackson or Dr. Grimes at all times. This is a big ship and it’s easy to get lost if you’re unfamiliar with it. I do believe that the plan is for Supervisory Special Agent DiNozzo’s team to be here for an hour or so. General O’Neill thought that they would have more privacy here than in the mountain to share the information that SSA DiNozzo learned last night.”

Spencer watched Derek wander away from the group toward one of the large bridge windows where the Earth was clearly visible. He’d caught a quick glimpse of his friend’s face before he wandered away and was worried how Derek was mentally handing being forced into a new world view. Not for the first time since the previous day when the truth of their new assignment was given to them, Spencer questioned if he’d made the right decision in demanding that Derek be on the team with him.

“Come on, Spence. I’d like to show you something.” Pulling his gaze and his mind away from Derek, Spencer turned his eyes to Jax who was watching him affectionately. “Leave your friend to Daniel. He’s an expert at stubborn. Trust me when I say not even your friend Morgan beats Jack O’Neill at stubbornness. Col. Caldwell, do you mind if I take Spencer to the lounge on the floor below?”

“Not at all, Dr. Grimes. The conference room on that floor is the one that Dr. Reid’s team will be using. I will inform Gen. O’Neill and SSA DiNozzo of your location when you arrive. For what it’s worth, Dr. Reid, I agree with Dr. Grimes. Your friend is in good hands.”

After giving Derek one more worried glance, Spencer nodded his thanks to the Col. and then followed Jax down to the lounge on the floor below. Once inside, it was Reid’s turn to be memorized by the view, and he found himself wandering to the window where he could stare at the gorgeous view of the Earth. He was glad that Jax didn’t immediately start speaking, but instead gave him a moment to be caught up in the wonder if his current situation before talking.

“You know, when I found out about Stargate Command, you’re the first person I thought of. I knew that if anyone on Earth could be an asset to this program it was you. You’re at least as intelligent as Dr. McKay with better people handling skills. You have all of Daniel’s genius for languages and cultures on top of it, but unlike him, thanks to your time with the FBI, I think that you will have an easier time understanding the military point of view. Then there’s the selfish part where I can’t help but hope this is a sign from Fate that it’s finally our time.”

It was the last sentence that pulled Spencer’s eyes away from the windows and toward Jax. Reviewing Jax’s words, Spencer skipped the ending for the moment, and went back to a name that drew his curiosity. “Dr. Rodney McKay, the astrophysicist and engineer? I wondered where he had gone. We met in college and had a friendly rivalry. He’s such a degree snob. I can only imagine what he’ll say about me ending up at the FBI. I am sure there will be something about me wasting my brain or some similar nonsense.

“I missed you too, Jax. I’ll be honest in that I wouldn’t mind if this time went better than the last, but it’s only fair that I warn you that I am not sure I’m ready just this second. I… There was someone whom I cared for, but she was… Her name was Maeve Donovan and she was killed in front of me by her stalker several months back. As happy as I am to see you, I’m not sure either my head or heart are ready for something new.”

“Then I wait,” Jax said so calmly and matter-of-factly that Spencer couldn’t help but relax. “This isn’t a race. I finally know where you are and you finally know where I am. Our lives both professional and personal seem to be in the same place, again. So, I am in no rush. When you’re ready, I will be waiting.”

Letting loose a sigh of relief, Spencer gave Jax a relieved smile along with a nod before turning back to the view. This place and this moment were everything he’d ever wanted, and for once he was going to take the time to enjoy it.

  
  


~*~ ~*~ ~*~

  
  
  
  


Derek was standing near the windows trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing when he felt someone come up next to him. 

“Magnificent, isn’t it?”

When Derek looked next to him, he saw that the Dr. that filled them in on everything was the one standing beside him. Since his head was still spinning with information, Morgan turned his attention back to the view in front of him. He was surprised that the Doctor didn’t automatically start pushing him, but instead stood next to him quietly.

“I can’t believe this is all actually real. The Egyptians that were really aliens. The Roswell Greys that actually were there. Then you’re telling me on top of it there were ultra-religious God wannabes that we hope are gone for good and space vampires that are very much not gone at all.”

“As well as hundreds of other cultures and races that we’ve met over the years that are both good and bad. We’ve made friends and enemies and all levels in between with more places yet to explore. There’re planets who are light years ahead of us in technological advancement and there’s planets that are still stuck in the middle ages or before. Fortunately, we know a lot more about all of this than when we started. I hope that we aren’t making as many mistakes as we used to. At some point the Wraith will have to be dealt with, and I am sure once they’re gone there will be someone else.

“My real question though Special Agent Morgan is what your real issue is, because I find it hard to believe that you really thought a Brigadier General was lying to you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Dr. Jackson, and please call me Derek or Morgan.”

“Then it’s Daniel for me, please. As far as what I’m talking about, it goes back to that experience that I was alluding to. When I first got to Stargate I was nearly a pure academic. I’d been basically laughed out of academics for my theory on the Pyramids of Giza. Fortunately, Catherine Langford saved me by offering me a job doing translations on the Stargate ring they’d discovered. I admit that at the beginning, Jack and I were at odds more often than not. Since then though, I think I’ve become good at masks and such. 

“I admit you threw me last night because I’m used to Jack’s idiot game, and Tony seems to lean that way as well. So you’re insistence that we all had to be lying was hidden well by the black and white personality that you were portraying. The thing is that Jack has tried to protect me enough times from the various dangers of the universe that I realized last night in the quiet of my house what was going on.

“Dr. Reid is a big boy, Derek. Will he be more in danger than the highly trained military personnel around here? Of course, he will be. My guess is that you and Tony will pick up the military mindset fairly easily, and I would bet money that Tony trains with the SEALs or Marines on base anytime that he’s here. Spencer will probably come hide on one of our labs or offices translating things in his downtime. However, that doesn’t mean that he deserves to be here any less than you do. You can’t protect him from everything.”

“Hell, I couldn’t even protect him from his girlfriend being murdered in front of him. How the hell am I supposed to protect him from space vampires?”

“You won’t be alone for one thing,” Daniel pointed out gently as Derek finally turned back toward the other man. “You’ll have a whole team around you and a lot of highly trained Marines and Air Force members as well as military personnel from other countries. It also isn’t like you’ll constantly be off planet. Not to mention there will be other more scientifically minded people around to help guide Spencer. The people at SGC are very in tune with keeping its non-military members safe.”

“I just don’t want the kid to be hurt any more,” Derek admitted softly. “I think he’s gone through enough, and all I see is danger.”

“Have some faith in the people around you and remember that part of Dr. Reid being happy is doing something he will love. None of us have the right to take his dreams away from him.”

With a sigh, Derek nodded and turned back to look out at the planet outside the windows. He’d known from the second O’Neill mentioned the words aliens that he was fighting a losing battle. It seemed like it was time to just give in and figure out how the hell he was going to keep the Pretty Boy in one piece.

  
  


~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Tony sat in the conference room on the Daedalus watching everyone find a seat. As he glanced at McGee, Tony couldn’t help but feel amused at how jumpy his Probie was. Despite how much he was pulling for the younger man to succeed, he couldn’t help but feel some twinge of satisfaction at the computer genius being taken down a peg or dozen. Not only had Tim been interrogated most of the previous day by Hammond and the DoD’s best interrogators, but the second the first group left, he was lectured by Jack.

Tony was pretty sure that there was a bit of partner Jack mixed in with Brig. Gen. O’Neill in the talk, and it gave him a little bit of the warm fuzzies. Seeing that everyone was settled, Tony took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and addressed his new team.

“Now that we’re all here together, and in relative privacy, I want to say a few things before we start in on a case. First off, I appreciate you all sticking with this even though I know we had a wide range of skepticism. While all of you look at Derek, I want it clear I am not singling him out. I can assure you that if I wasn’t personally involved with the head of this circus that I’d have needed more proof before I fully bought in myself. The bottom line for me now is that you’ve all bought in and are as dedicated to helping these people as I am.

“I realize not all of you know this, but I didn’t start my career with NCIS. I was a cop in a few different cities before I was recruited to NCIS. While things there didn’t end the way I would have liked, I can honestly tell you though that the thing I absolutely do not regret is being able to help our men and women in the armed forces. I feel like this team, this job is just the next step in that honor. These people we’re helping are the cream of the crop. They are the most badass and most experienced of the badasses. 

“And helping them is how I’ve looked at my job for the last decade plus. I know that there’s going to be some adjustment period for a couple of you. I want to make it clear that it’s expected. The thing I ask you to remember and that our boss expects you to remember is that these people have given everything for not just their country, but their planet. They are what is standing between Earth and space vampires or worse. I’m not asking you to let them steamroll you, but the boss and I do expect that you remember respect is not just requested it’s expected.”

When Tony paused to take a drink of the water bottle he’d nabbed earlier, Dr. Reid took the opportunity to speak.

“Is there somewhere I can get my hands on a copy of the Manual for Courts-Martial? I’d like to read it so that I can get an understanding of the difference between civilian law and the uniformed code of military justice. Will we always be dealing with paper? If not, is it possible that my case files are paper?”

Tony arched an eyebrow at the request, but then remembered the good doctor’s reading speed and eidetic memory being two of the things Hotchner mentioned the night before. “Jack always has an updated copy in his office. I’m sure that he’d let you borrow it. We’re still working on the paper versus digital element. Normally, I would tell you that information would be delivered digitally. Since we will on occasion be working non-SGC cases, I expect those will be digital files. 

“However, with SGC cases, I am somewhat concerned about security issues with having SGC information on tablets that will connect to non-SGC networks. I haven’t had a chance to talk to the boss about it, but I know it’s a concern of Jack’s as well. So, for this case we will be as non-digital as possible, and then we’ll address future cases once this is wrapped up.”

“You keep talking as if you know who our new boss is,” Delilah pointed out, and Tony grinned at her.

“I do actually. I met with this person last night. Since they were not available to join us on this case, we decided to keep their identity secret. There was some chain of command issues on my last team. The new boss and I decided that keeping their identity a secret will give us all a chance to get used to my leadership and give me a chance to get used to my leadership being taken seriously. If no one else has a team related question, I think we can move onto Brig. Gen. Carter’s murder.”

“I know that you know Gen, O’Neill better than the rest of us, but it feels like he already knows who is guilty here,” Derek pointed out sitting up in his chair and resting his elbows on the table. “If I’m wrong, I apologize, but if not, I don’t understand why we’re wasting our time here. I know that I asked that question yesterday, but we all weren’t there, and I think it’s still something that hasn’t been completely answered.”

“I’m of the opinion that it’s never a waste of time to make sure that we are arresting the right person,” Tony started, and when he saw McGee wince he knew that both he and his Probie were thinking of Remmie Grant. “However, you are correct. For the most part, the SGC believes that they know who is responsible. We’re still going to conduct an investigation, but I am fairly sure our outcome will match theirs. The real thing needed here is a thorough investigation of the SGC as a whole to both sniff out any possible moles, and to make a recommendation for who should take over command at Cheyenne Mountain.”

“That sounds like they believe that General Landry is the guilty party,” McGee pointed out with a frown and Tony tilted his head to one side in acknowledgement of the truth of the statement. He was happy that his Probie was echoing Derek’s observation from the day before.

“They do. In fact, General Landry has been isolated. The cover story at the moment is that he’s quarantined. One of the Gate Teams came back with some symptoms of an alien virus and they’re using that to explain why Landry is not in command at the moment. The people who did the investigation are not trained investigators. As a matter of fact, our team will be the SGC’s first investigative team and we will be covering both Cheyenne Mountain as well as Atlantis and Area 51. 

“In addition to that, the SGC has had some problems with spies between the NID, an organization called the Trust, and the IOA. So, they want to make sure that whomever they choose next is only affiliated with the SGC and whatever branch of the military they joined. I talked Jack into making a list, and he can just use the information we gather in our investigation to make his final decision. One thing that we need to keep in mind here is that Brig. Gen. Carter was a long-time member of this organization. She was respected and trusted by both the military and scientific personnel. 

“Her murder is a huge blow to not just the SGC as an organization but to a lot of the people who make it up including the president. So, there will be a lot of eyes on us, and I want our first impression with these people to be a good one. If you run into an issue, send them my way. I’m not asking you to let them walk all over you, but I am asking you to help me prove to these people that we belong here.”

As Tony drained the last of his water, he glanced at Tim and saw that his Probie was about to speak. “Have you decided what are our assignments will be yet, Tony?”

“I have, you and Delilah will be responsible for going through the SGC’s files with a fine-tooth comb. You’ll start with Cheyenne Mountain, and then move onto Atlantis. We are waiting on an updated copy of their files in the next data burst. I know that it’s going to be a huge task, so we’re going to bring in a consultant to help us. His name is Daniel Krumitz and he works for the FBI’s cyber crimes task force. He’s going through a quick security clearance assessment and then will be joining us in a day or two. If there’s no more questions, let’s head down to the mountain and get started. Brig. Gen.. Carter deserves justice and we’re going to give it to her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to angst over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!


	5. Chapter 5

#  Chapter Four

  
  
  


Tony was sitting in the monitoring portion of their makeshift interrogation room with Dr. Reid. They were watching Derek and Tim question Gen. Landry. Tony ended up needing Krumitz to help with searching through the SGC’s computer system for anything suspicious because Tony needed Tim to help with the interrogations. Tony spent most of his time going though the paper files and watching the interrogations. There had been some preliminary interviews that he’d set in on, but after talking things over with Hotch, he decided to distance himself in some areas.

Talking to Hotch had been a nightly routine. Tony made the decisions for the most part, but with the number of powerful eyes watching what they were doing, both Aaron and Tony felt better if the former Unit Chief was at least kept up to date. Once the case stuff was out of the way during their conversations, Tony also gave a report on the romance being resurrected between Aaron’s best friend and the man he considered a friend that bordered on brother. 

Aaron and Jackson Grimes had known each other nearly their entire lives and Jackson was definitely as much a brother to Aaron as friend. So, the romance between Jax and Spencer put Aaron in an awkward position, thus the nightly reports. Tony at one point joked that he felt like he was hosting Aaron’s very own version of The Bachelor and from that point forward turned the gossiping into contestant like reports including not only the interactions between Spencer and Jackson, but the times he’d seen them flirting with other people. Of course, Tony noticed that in Spencer’s case it was more often other people flirting with Spencer and the genius not noticing, which left Tony highly amused as well. It also made Tony determined to work with Reid on his situational awareness, which when Hotch found out a frustrated good luck was offered.

Romance gossip aside, talking to Hotchner nightly had helped to give Tony feedback on his own leadership skills. He found that Aaron was very good about offering suggestions mostly only when asked and giving as much positive feedback to go with the negative. Even the things that he thought Tony should work on were delivered in a way that Tony didn’t feel as beat down as he had anytime Gibbs delivered a performance review. Of course, Hotch would know more once he could see Tony in action, but thus far the former NCIS agent was enjoying their developing working relationship.

One of Landry’s jackass comments pulled Tony out of his head, and he found himself wishing that he could just punch the man in the throat. The first time that Tony mentioned throat punching, both Derek and Spencer laughed and said that it sounded like something Rossi would say. Tony joked back that it must be the Italian in him and said that he looked forward to meeting the veteran profiler someday. If nothing else, he’d like a chance to get to know an Italian who was on the other side of the law from Senior and hadn’t tried to put him in jail at least twice.

Hearing Landry laugh over the computer speaker made Tony cringe again and this time Tony turned his thoughts to what he’d deduced about Landry. The man certainly played a good game, and Tony wanted to believe that it was the game that helped the Cheyenne Mountain leader pull the wool over Jack’s eyes for so long. Because for the life of him, Tony couldn’t figure out what Jack saw in the man, but then Hank Landry was the kind of man that Tony hated. He reminded him entirely too much of Senior for Tony to be comfortable around the man.

He couldn’t help but wonder just how much Jack actually knew about Landry, or if he’d been chosen simply for his leadership experience within the SGC. Tony could understand not wanting to bring in an outsider as a general concept, but in this instance, he felt like it had only hurt the program. Unfortunately, thus far the team had found that Samantha Carter’s murder wasn’t the only thing that Landry was complicit in. Tony wasn’t looking forward to giving Jack the rundown of the things they’d found.

The more Landry joked and smiled; the more Tony realized the man had no idea what his fate was and began to wonder if there wasn’t something mentally off with the man. It was as if he believed that he’d get off with what he’d done with nothing more than a slap on the hand and a change of location. As if the murder of a member of the legendary original SG-1 would just be brushed aside. Of course, Tony knew Landry wasn’t the only one who hadn’t worked out his fate yet. He and Aaron had several conversations during their nightly updates on how each member of the team would take the news.

When Dr. Reid spoke, adding his own voice to Landry’s, tony was momentarily startled, wondering if the younger man was reading his mind. “What is going to happen to General Landry now that he’s confessed? Will he go to Leavenworth or do they have another facility they use? Where do the SGC’s trials take place? I couldn’t find that information anywhere.”

“Once we’re sure that we have all the information out of Landry that he’ll give, he’s going to be killed.”

“What do you mean?” Reid asked looking obviously startled and angry. “He hasn’t had a trial yet.”

“He’s being tried right now,” Tony advised turning away from the monitor he’d been watching and toward Spencer. “We have mounds of evidence against him and his confession backs up our results. My report will state that he’s guilty of murder and the approval has already been given to execute him if we find enough evidence to verify his guilt.”

“We can’t just,” Spencer started indignantly, but stopped and eventually Tony spoke again.

“You are correct, Dr. Reid. We can’t. However, the new boss and I can. This is the new job. This is the responsibility that comes with this position. This isn’t your every day serial killer or some guy who got pissed and killed his wife because he thought that she was cheating. This is a man who knows too much about the Nation’s security to send him to a prison somewhere. So, that rules out any US civilian or military prison. He also knows too much about the planet’s defense systems and general security to risk putting him somewhere off planet. That’s why he thinks he’s getting away with this even though he’s confessed.

“He thinks that he’s too valuable. The thing is that he’s crossed a line that there is no coming back from. He hasn’t just upset Samantha Carter’s friend and remaining family. If we let him loose right now, he wouldn’t make it to the front gate. I guarantee you that he’d be killed before he got there, and chances are good he wouldn’t even make it to the elevator. Granted I haven’t worked with a lot of Air Force personnel, but I can tell you from personal knowledge that he’s offended every damned Marine on this base. 

“Chances are likely that he’s offended every Air Force member on the base, and every civilian scientist and non-scientist personnel here and at any location the SGC has. Hell, I can bet that he’s offended the entire Atlantis expedition given that Carter was their leader for about a year. So, we can’t even send him there because he’d end up Wraith food. The facts of the matter are, Dr. Reid, that some people are simply too important and know too much to keep alive, and General Hank Landry falls into that category.”

When Spencer just looked at him mulishly, Tony sighed but went on hoping that what he was saying wasn’t pushing the younger man off the team. He knew that this was the thing Aaron was most concerned with Spencer being able to accept.

“It isn’t like we’re killing everyone. The two members of the Daedalus who were complicit in moving Col. Carter’s body will be thrown into an off the books facility and will probably not see the light of day again, given what they know. They will however live. The boss and I also aren’t making this decision unilaterally. Once one of us have decided on what charges and sentencing that we are recommending, our paperwork goes to Morrow.

“He then reviews everything, and if he agrees he then has a meeting whose members vary depending on the seriousness of the charges. In a case like this, the meeting included the AG, the Secretary of Defense, and the President. In addition to this, former JAG Commanderl Rear Admiral AJ Chegwidden was hired on as a consultant to counter Sec Def’s personal relationship with the victim. It is my understanding that every one of them agreed that Gen. Landry was too much of a risk to not just the SGC or the US, but to the planet as a whole to leave alive.”

“So, who will be carrying out the execution?” Reid asked, and Tony wished he could tell how the man felt at that moment. However, he wasn’t familiar enough with him to be sure he could read him accurately yet. 

“I will,” Tony advised quietly, and Spencer was obviously surprised at the reply. 

“Rear Adm. Chegwidden will be coming in to do the final interview. Once he is confident that we have everything, he will be informing Landry of his sentencing. The three of us and I am assuming a couple people from the mountain acting as security will be going to a thus far undisclosed location. I will be carrying out the sentencing and Landry’s body will be sent through the gate to a planet the SGC has determined to be completely dead. 

“His remaining family outside of Dr. Lam will then be informed that he has gone MIA, and that will be it. Dr. Lam has been informed of what her father did, and she has agreed to keep the secret. I admit to being a little concerned about that portion of things, but I was advised that part is above my pay grade, and I don’t feel strongly enough one way or the other to argue the point.”

When Spencer looked to still be struggling with the new information, Tony decided to take Aaron’s suggestion if things didn’t go well. “If you need to take some time, I am told that you are welcomed to be completely honest with Dr. Grimes. His clearance was upped when ours was in anticipation of the two of you possibly rekindling your romance so that you two didn’t have to keep unnecessary secrets. I think you will be an integral part of this team, Dr. Reid, but I also need you to understand your new reality. Things like this are going to happen again. I need you to be able to accept that if you want to remain on the team. Take a day or two. Talk to Dr. Grimes. Do what is best for you.”

Spencer nodded and after looking at the monitor once more, stood and walked out of the room. Tony only hoped that they hadn’t just lost what may be one of their most important pieces. Spencer brought a view to the team, the civilian view that Tony just didn’t have anymore, and neither Tony or Aaron were sure Derek shared. Tony at least knew that neither Tim or Delilah did. While Tim might be closest, Tony knew that because of his father that Tim was too familiar with the military mindset to be the voice of reason that they may need at times.

Knowing that there was nothing more he could do, Tony turned back to the monitor to watch the rest of the interrogation.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

A week later, Tony followed Jack into the house late at night happy to hear the familiar click of the dogs’ toenails as they ran to greet them. They’d just come from Samantha Carter’s funeral and the reception afterwards. Maj. Gen. Carter had been buried with honors in Arlington National Cemetery. There had been a ceremony at Cheyenne before they’d left the mountain to give those serving there closure since the majority of the base members would not be able to attend the ceremony in Virginia. Tony’s understanding was that similar ceremonies had taken place at Area 51 as well as on Atlantis.

Landry’s execution had been difficult, but Tony felt it was important that he did it. Aaron offered to come in and do it for him, but Tony refused. It was part of his new reality, and he was determined to succeed. For once though, he hadn’t fought the mandatory counseling, and wasn’t even trying to give the doctor the run around. While Tony had killed in the line of duty, he’d never killed someone because he was ordered to, and it was a bit more of a mind fuck despite his agreeance with the sentencing.

Spencer had taken a couple days and gone off to Jack’s cabin with Dr. Grimes to talk things over and decide if he could live with his new world. In the end, he’d decided that he could live with it, as long as he wasn’t the one expected to do the executing. Tony made sure that once his mind was made up, that he relayed his thoughts on the importance of Spencer’s unofficial voice of reason role. Tony had a sneaking suspicion that Dr. Reid was given a heads up on the identity of their new boss, but he didn’t honestly care as long as it kept the genius on the team.

Several people were amused at Spencer and Jackson’s reactions when they found out that they both knew Aaron. How the hell neither of them knew was still a mystery to Tony, but Jack said that he’d heard of stranger things. Thinking of Dr. Grimes reminded Tony of when he’d met Lt. Col John Sheppard. At first, he’d thought that Dr. Grimes was playing some weird prank and the look on his face must have given his thoughts away, because the first thing Lt. Col. Sheppard said to him was “I see you’ve met my cousin a couple times removed.” At that point, Jack’s habit of calling Jax Sheppard-Not-Sheppard made more sense.

Tony’s biggest source of amusement though may have been watching Derek flirt his way through the mountain. That was until the day he met Dr. Miko Kusanagi. Tony wasn’t sure if it was the woman’s beauty or the way she made it clear how unimpressed she was by him that caught Morgan’s attention more. The Dr. had been serving on the mountain as a temporary Chief Science Officer at Cheyenne Mountain, and before Jack left had been offered the position on a permanent basis. 

Command of the mountain had been given to Maj. Gen. Cameron Mitchell. At first, Cam hadn’t seemed like he would take either the promotion or the new position, but then he and Jack had a closed-door meeting. While even Tony didn’t know what was said between then, he knew that the end result was Col. Mitchel doing a 180 and accepted both promotion and position without further argument. His wasn’t the only military promotion though.

At one point during the investigation, Tony asked Jack why it was that Paul had never been promoted beyond Major. At first, his partner had looked at him as if Tony was speaking some foreign language. However, then all of a sudden he started swearing and stomped off. The day before they’d left the mountain, Jack confessed that he’d never considered Maj. Davis wanting a command type role. So, the two had talked, and while Paul swore he had absolutely no interest in being in command of SGC, he did admit to an interest in Jack’s job. Paul was very aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and thought he’d do a much better job fighting politicians than space vampires. So, Maj. Davis was now Lt. Col Davis and had received a corresponding promotion within Jack’s office. While he would still do a lot of the same things he’d always done, he would be getting an assistant of his own, and some of the more mundane tasks would be transferred to his new helper. 

This would free him up to learn more about what Jack did so that when the time came for Jack to retire, Paul could take his place. Jack had been frank with Paul in that at some point he’d like to see him have some hands on command experience, because he felt that it was a vital part of Jack’s success in his current position. While he knew that it wouldn’t be his favorite thing ever, Paul agreed and that had been worked into his promotional planning.

After Tony and Jack both changed out of the clothes that they’d worn to the funeral, Tony found himself following Jack out to the pond. He was a little surprised that his partner chose the fire pit instead of the dock, but happily sat down on one of the logs, and snuggled into Jack when the older man sat down. Not knowing exactly what was going on inside of Jack’s head, Tony stayed quiet until his partner decided to talk.

“How are you handing the big secret? I don’t know how many times in the past I wished that I could be honest with you.”

“I understand, Jack. It isn’t like I’m a stranger to secrecy, and I can say the same to you. It’ll be nice being able to discuss investigations with you and not have to tap dance around things. I’m really sorry about Sam. She seemed like an awesome lady.”

“She was. I think my only regret is that she never found for herself what I have in you. I always knew that she had developed some feelings for me during our time together on the gate team, and I was never sure if she moved past that when she found out about us. I always hoped that she’d find someone else. It seemed like she tried a few times, but for one reason or another it never worked out.”

Tony sighed and kissed Jack’s shoulder before resting his head on it. “I think that finding out about aliens only makes me gladder that we tried something more permanent the second time around. I didn’t realize until this case how badly I’d been wanting to be able to share with you more about my job. I love that now I get to do it.”

“And how do you feel about the fallout at NCIS?” Jack asked and Tony just huffed. When the dogs suddenly appeared and settled at their feet, he took a moment to give Homer a good scratch behind the ears while he thought about his answer.

The day after they’d returned from Cheyenne Mountain, Tony had his formal debrief meeting with Marrow. In the intensity of the case, he’d almost completely forgotten about the happenings at NCIS. Fortunately, his new Director has been keeping an eye on his old Director and had lots to tell him. While some of the consequences were still being decided, some had already been delivered.

Ziva had indeed killed Ilan Bodnar having been sent to Germany with Dornegate for company. Of course, poor Dorny wasn’t enough to keep her on track, and when the opportunity presented itself, she killed the man who hadn’t been as guilty as she thought. The situation at Mossad had turned out to be a lot more complex than either Ziva or Vance understood. Of course, Morrow had known exactly how complicated it was, which was why he had repeatedly tried to warn Director Vance off. 

During the resulting investigation, they had found that Ziva had again, or in Tony’s opinion still, been sending classified NCIS intelligence to Mossad. This time though as a US citizen the consequences were much different, and no one had been able to save her from punishment. Thus, she was currently awaiting trial for treason and Tony had not one bit of sympathy for her. 

Everything including Jackie Vance and Eli David’s deaths could be laid directly at Ziva’s feet, the same way that Michael’s death could be traced back to Ziva. Had Ziva not kept her mouth shut about knowing Eli killed the Marine, the same way she had blatantly lied about Michael all those years back, possibly Eli but most likely Jackie Vance would still be alive. 

The immediate look in the aftermath of Ziva’s actions hadn’t shed a good light on Leon Vance. The man had been immediately suspended, and that investigation was also still ongoing. Apparently, the investigators at the FBI were wanting to talk to both Tim and Tony before they finished their part, but had to wait for the two to finish their own case. In the interim, Owen Granger had been made temporary Director over Deputy Director Jerome Craig. Apparently, no one thought that Craig was actually up to the task, and Tony suspected that should Granger be given the job permanently, Craig would be quickly replaced.

Gibbs it seemed was not taking the new Interim Director appointment well. Most likely because there was zero chance that he could get away with anything with Granger running the ship. When Tony found out about Granger’s appointment he’d immediately thought of Gibbs, and Morrow had been forced to wait while Tony had a nearly 15-minute laughing fit. One of the first things that Granger had done was point out how far past the maximum age limit for field eligibility Gibbs was, and therefore had quickly pulled his field credentials. 

Interim Director Granger also thought that it was essential that the MCRT Team Leader have field eligibility. So, the second thing he’d done was take that team away from Gibbs, and order that he pick one of a handful of desk jobs or move into a training position. Tony knew that there was a snowballs’ chance in hell that Gibbs do either of those things. Because of this, he was just waiting for the news that his former boss had retired. 

Ducky had considered retiring but was convinced to wait by Granger until Jimmy could be brought up to speed to take his spot. Tony knew from Jimmy himself that the younger man was equally excited and nervous about his future promotion, but Tony had no doubts that Jimmy would do a wonderful job. Abby was also currently suspended, but not because of anything to do with the case.

It seemed the first time Granger walked into her lab; he had such a fit about what she’d done to it that he’d immediately ordered an internal audit. This led to a suspension due to a combination of him finding out how far out of code her lab was, as well as the temper tantrum that she threw. Not only had she been suspended, but Granger ordered her to undergo a mental evaluation before he’d allow her to return. 

He was concerned that she had some anger problems along with an unhealthy attachment to the MCRT in general and Gibbs specifically. Tony told Morrow that in his opinion, the best thing that they could do was force Abby to move on. Although he suspected that if Gibbs retired that she’d do it without forcing their hand. 

One thing that Tony was thankful to find out was there would be no consequences for Dornegate. He’d been found innocent of any wrong doing in Ziva’s murder of Bodnar. As soon as he could, Tony had called the younger man to check in on him, and found out how disenchanted with NCIS the young agent was as a result of what happened. 

After a discussion with Morrow, Ned had been lured away from NCIS to join Tony’s team as a Junior Agent and would be assisting both Delilah with the computer stuff as well as the field agents depending on where he was needed most. While Krumitz had been well liked and done an outstanding job, he admitted that he couldn’t see himself leaving his current team at that time. He thought highly of his boss and didn’t want to take a position that didn’t allow him to work with her on a daily basis. Taking a temporary posting on occasion was one thing, but doing it permanently was a no go.

“You know it’s weird,” Tony said eventually, once he was sure of his thoughts. “I thought that if I ever left it would hurt more. I guess maybe if I hadn’t gone directly into this case and gotten a job before I even officially quit NCIS it would be different. When I think of NCIS in general and Gibbs specifically, because I know that’s really what you’re asking, all I can think is that it’s in the past. You and the new team are my future. I just wish Sam hadn’t had to die for this to happen.”

“It didn’t, not really. She was already dead when all this went down at NCIS. I think though that she would have approved of you working with the SGC. She always said we needed an investigator like you when I’d brag. I’d like to think that wherever she’s at now she’s happy for us. Can we get a new goldfish?”

Tony smiled at the last question and didn’t even stop to think before leaning over for a kiss. “I think Kate would love the company.”

Jack seemed satisfied at that, and Tony watched as he turned his gaze back to the sky. Snuggling back into his partner once more, Tony looked upward himself and for the first time ever knew exactly what was up there amongst the stars.

The End!

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to angst over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!


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